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Risk analysis in animal health caused by the presence of hydroxymethylfurfural in syrup for honey bee feeding

Abstract:

This paper discusses an incident that occurred in Belgium during winter 2009-2010, after which many honey bee colonies have been lost. Later analyses showed that these colonies had been fed during the winter with a inverted sugar syrup from sugar beet which had a high concentration of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). HMF concentrations ranged from 18.8ppm to 365.6ppm. Data from the scientific literature are quite limited, but several authors confirm the harmful effect of HMF on honey bee health. Other elements, however, may have played a role in this apparent mortality such as crystallization of syrups, resulting in unavailability of sugar for the honey bees, and thus the death of them from starvation. Pending the acquisition of new scientific knowledge on the subject, it is recommended to follow good beekeeping practices detailed in this article to minimize the formation of HMF in syrups for honey bee feeding. In addition, a draft action limit corresponding to a maximal concentration of 40ppm of HMF is proposed in order to control the risk at the producer and distributor of syrups for honey bee feeding level.