The assessment of the botanical origin of unifloral honeys is an important application in food control. The current official methods mainly use pollen analysis. The aim of this paper is to present an SPME analytical approach to the study of honey volatiles. Honey samples (40) obtained from hive sites in different regions of Italy were analysed. The samples had six different botanical origins: citrus (five), chestnut (10), eucalyptus (eight), lime tree (11), thyme (two) and dandelion (four). Melissopalynological analysis was also performed. Identification of volatile compounds was carried out by SPME/GC/MS analysis, and quantitative evaluation was done by SPME/GC/FID analysis for compounds with wellresolved peaks. Using the SPME method, all samples with the same botanical origin gave remarkably similar GC profiles. Some volatile compounds were found only in specific floral source honey samples and thus could be interesting for use as markers.

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-The solid phase microextraction technique was tested for thymol evaluation in honey. Thymol can be present in honey as a residue of treatments against Varroa destructor Honey was sampled from apiaries treated with anti-Varroa products whose active ingredient is thymol. Thymol evaluation was done using the internal standard method; benzophenone and carvacrol were tested as internal standards/ the best results were obtained using benzophenone. The application of an alkaline hydrolysis was important for obtaining quantitative recoveries.honey / solid phase microextraction / thymol / Varroa destructor / gas chromatography