Albanian j. agric. sci. 2017; (Special edition) Agricultural University of Tirana RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access) The nickel content in honey derived from serpentine and non-serpentine areas of Kosovo MUHARREM SALIHAJ 1* , AIDA BANI 2 1 PhD candidate at Agricultural University of Tirana, Koder-Kamze, Tirana, Albania, 2 Agro-Environmental Department, Faculty of Agronomy and Environment, Agricultural University of Tirana, Koder-Kamze, Tirana, Albania *Coresponding author E-mail:muharremsalihaj@hotmail.com Abstract- The purpose of this paper is to find out the nickel level in the serpentine multi-floral-honey obtained from the honeybeeswith higher nickel concentration than the non-serpentine flora. The average value of Ni concentration in the aerial part of examined flora samples comprised of 10 different plant species resulted to be 336mgkg -1 . The honey was collected from 1 apiary three years in the row,which is situated in serpentine area of south- eastern part of Kosovo-Rezhance and from 3 other apiaries from non-serpentinearea. Obtained results have revealed higher concentration of nickel in the serpentine multi-floralhoneythan those in the non-serpentine honey. The average Ni level in the serpentine multi-floral honey was 3.71mg.kg -1 , with the highest concentration of 3.96mgkg -1 . Whereas the average levels of Ni in the non-serpentine flora was1.66 mg.kg -1 .with the highest reading of1.92 mgkg -1 . In conclusion, the entire amount of nickel in the honey comes either from nectar collected by honey bees in the Ni accumulative and hyper-accumulative serpentine flora or by dust coming from serpentine soils, which is abundant on Ni content. Keywords: Honey, Ni, Serpentine flora, non-serpentine flora, beehive Introduction Honey is the natural sweet substance produced by honey bees from the nectar of plants or from secretions of living parts of plants or excretions of plant sucking insects on the living parts of plants, which the bees collect, transform by combining with specific substances of their own, deposit, dehydrate, store and leave in the honey comb to ripen and mature. Honey consists essentially of different sugars, predominantly fructose and glucose as well as other substances such as organic acids, enzymes and solid particles derived from honey collection Honeybees visit flowers of diverse plant species collecting nectar and pollen grains producing honey. Pollen is the bee’s major source of protein, minerals, and vitamins, while nectar is the major source of carbohydrates from which honeybees obtain their energy [3]. Honey shall be free from heavy metals in amounts which may represent a hazard to human health. The products covered by this standard shall comply with those maximum levels for heavy metals established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Also, some essential elements (P, Fe, Al, Mg, Cu, Mn, Si, Ca, K, and Na) naturally distributed in the soil are included in the nectar transported via plant’s root system [22]. A lot of data demonstrated the localization of metals in pollen grains as well [6–28]. Honey may contain metals of which some may be beneficial or injurious if consumed. Some essential metals are involved in numerous biochemical processes and adequate intake of certain essential metals relates to the prevention of deficiency diseases. The essential metals may become toxic when the metal intake is excessively elevated [18]. Heavy 557