Ann. Méd. Vét., 2011, 155 (2), pp 53-60 Risk analysis in animal health caused by the presence of hydroxymethylfurfural in syrup for honey bee feedingWILMART O., REYBROECK W., DE MEULENAER B., DE GRAAF D.C., NGUYEN B.K., HUYGHEBAERT A., SAEGERMAN C.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 18.8 ppm to 365.6
ppm. 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 40
ppm of HMF is proposed in order
to control the risk at the producer
and distributor of syrups for
honey bee feeding level. Get the PDF Contact person : olivier.wilmart@afsca.be |