# Hydroxymethylfurfural: A Possible Emergent Cause of Honey Bee Mortality?



## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/jf403280n

Abstract;
"Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a common product of hexose degradation occurring during the Maillard reaction and caramelization, has been found toxic for rats and mice. It could cause a potential health risk for humans due to its presence in many foods, sometimes exceeding 1 g/kg (in certain dried fruits and caramel products), although the latter still is controversial. HMF can also be consumed by honey bees through bad production batches of sugar syrups that are offered as winter feeding. In Belgium, abnormal losses of honey bee colonies were observed in colonies that were fed with syrup of inverted beet sugar containing high concentrations of HMF (up to 475 mg/kg). These losses suggest that HMF could be implicated in bee mortality, a topic that so far has received only little attention. This paper reviews the current knowledge of the presence of HMF in honey bee environment and possible consequences on bee mortality. Some lines of inquiry for further toxicological analysis are likewise proposed."


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Here's one from 2009
www.uwplatt.edu/~cornettc/Ag and Food Publish.pdf


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## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

Can anybody tell me at what temperature and how long do you have to heat HFCS before HMF forms?


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Good question, not sure anyone has actually quantified what levels it becomes toxic and what heat levels and time frame may be required to achieve those levels. I can tell you this, I have stored hfcs outdoors in a (mostly shaded) black tank through a central Texas summer and seen it turn quite yellow by fall. I still fed it and observed no overt symptoms that it harmed them in any way. I also routinely store hfcs in tanks indoors in South Dakota through the summer with highs perhaps no more than 90 degrees and it does not noticeably darken. In both of these scenarios the syrup was diluted with water 10:1.


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

Nabber86 said:


> Can anybody tell me at what temperature and how long do you have to heat HFCS before HMF forms?


Hydroxymethylfurfuraldehyde

It doesn't necessarily take high heat. Time will do the same thing. I used to use HFCS, and would store what I didn't use in my shop until the following year. After a few years I had several barrels in storage that didn't get fed out. It was slightly off color...a little tan color instead of water white. When I did feed it to nucs for winter feed, the syrup killed my nucs. Hundreds of them.

So if you feed HFCS, buy on spec syrup, and feed it out. If you need to heat it, do it gently for a short time and don't use it if you've overheated it and it's off color.


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

jim lyon said:


> I can tell you this, I have stored hfcs outdoors in a (mostly shaded) black tank through a central Texas summer and seen it turn quite yellow by fall. I still fed it and observed no overt symptoms that it harmed them in any way.


Did you feed it to bees that wintered in the north, with no regular cleansing flights?


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

No, I fed it in the fall to bees in the south with temps plenty high enough for cleansing flights. I didn't go all in on feeding it first. Fed some, and checked them a week or so later. All seemed well so I fed the remainder and later checks of the bees didn't show any harm was done. Again I mentioned no OVERT problems. Could be a well run side by side might have shown some subtle differences but when faced with dumping out several hundred gallons of feed.....


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## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

jim lyon said:


> Good question, not sure anyone has actually quantified what levels it becomes toxic and what heat levels and time frame may be required to achieve those levels. I can tell you this, I have stored hfcs outdoors in a (mostly shaded) black tank through a central Texas summer and seen it turn quite yellow by fall. I still fed it and observed no overt symptoms that it harmed them in any way. I also routinely store hfcs in tanks indoors in South Dakota through the summer with highs perhaps no more than 90 degrees and it does not noticeably darken. In both of these scenarios the syrup was diluted with water 10:1.



Exactly. We all have seen many reports that HMF can form from HFCS. The science backs this up and I believe it to be a fact. The problem I have, like so many other topics concerning bee health that are discussed here, nobody seems to know at what temperature it begins to form. 

Before anybody replies that "it" happens at 100 degrees, let me back up here a little and discuss how most chemical reactions are temperature and time dependent. There is no single answer as to what temperature the formation occurs. The answer has two components; temperature and time. There is also a optimization range for the formation, so the real answer would have two components (three is you count pressure) and four values such as; Optimal formation of HMF occurs within 20 to 30 minutes when a solution of HFCS is help between 100 and 110 degrees F. Ooops, another variable just came up; concentration of the HFCS solution (I believe the units would be brix or specific gravity). 

So such a seemingly simple concept involves at least 4 variables (time, temp, pressure, and concentration), all of which require two values and one uses an oddball unit that most people have never heard of (brix). And we haven't even begin to discus what levels of HMF are harmful to bees. Such a sad state of affairs for modern internet research. I am not blaming anyone on BeeSource, but how can we even begin to discuss issues that are infinitely more complex such as neoniconitides and glyphosate?


:ws:


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## Richard Cryberg (May 24, 2013)

Nabber86 said:


> So such a seemingly simple concept involves at least 4 variables (time, temp, pressure, and concentration), all of which require two values and one uses an oddball unit that most people have never heard of (brix). And we haven't even begin to discus what levels of HMF are harmful to bees. Such a sad state of affairs for modern internet research. I am not blaming anyone on BeeSource, but how can we even begin to discuss issues that are infinitely more complex such as neoniconitides and glyphosate?
> 
> 
> :ws:


And you totally missed the most important variable after temperature. Formation of HMF is well known to be an acid catalyzed reaction. The acidity is critical and at pH 7 or higher you form no HMF. I am sure if you did a google scholar search you would find all the rate constants and activation energies are known so you could set up a several dimension spread sheet and calculate rates to your hearts content. I am not going to bother to do it as I am not interested. For me it is enough to know you need to avoid heat and if honey or HFCS turns color very much at all you better test feed it and not feed it for winter stores. By the way, pressure makes no difference. And, concentration of sugar makes only minor practical difference.

You do ask an excellent question about how can we discuss something very complex sensibly. The answer in part is if you are not using google scholar pretty regularly you are not going to talk about much science sensibly. I would guess there are no more than ten people on Bee Source who ever use google scholar. Perhaps I am low on that number. If so I bet I am not low by much.


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## hillbeekeeper (Mar 11, 2013)

Richard Cryberg said:


> And you totally missed the most important variable after temperature. Formation of HMF is well known to be an acid catalyzed reaction. The acidity is critical and at pH 7 or higher you form no HMF. I am sure if you did a google scholar search you would find all the rate constants and activation energies are known so you could set up a several dimension spread sheet and calculate rates to your hearts content. I am not going to bother to do it as I am not interested. For me it is enough to know you need to avoid heat and if honey or HFCS turns color very much at all you better test feed it and not feed it for winter stores. By the way, pressure makes no difference. And, concentration of sugar makes only minor practical difference.
> 
> You do ask an excellent question about how can we discuss something very complex sensibly. The answer in part is if you are not using google scholar pretty regularly you are not going to talk about much science sensibly. I would guess there are no more than ten people on Bee Source who ever use google scholar. Perhaps I am low on that number. If so I bet I am not low by much.


And you make a good point. HMF is an acid catalyzed product. Which means if you are adding vinegar or vitamin C powder (ascorbic acid), you are, in effect, feeding your bees HMF. How much will be dependent upon time.


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## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

Richard Cryberg said:


> And you totally missed the most important variable after temperature. Formation of HMF is well known to be an acid catalyzed reaction. The acidity is critical and at pH 7 or higher you form no HMF. I am sure if you did a google scholar search you would find all the rate constants and activation energies are known so you could set up a several dimension spread sheet and calculate rates to your hearts content. I am not going to bother to do it as I am not interested. For me it is enough to know you need to avoid heat and if honey or HFCS turns color very much at all you better test feed it and not feed it for winter stores. By the way, pressure makes no difference. And, concentration of sugar makes only minor practical difference.
> 
> You do ask an excellent question about how can we discuss something very complex sensibly. The answer in part is if you are not using google scholar pretty regularly you are not going to talk about much science sensibly. I would guess there are no more than ten people on Bee Source who ever use google scholar. Perhaps I am low on that number. If so I bet I am not low by much.


Thanks for adding a good deal of info that I did not know. But saying to "avoid heat" is kind of vague. I would like to have an idea of what the heat is (should I store it in the basement, can it be left in the kitchen cabinet, or the garage?). Searching around I found additional good info on Wiki of all places (imagine that ) :


_When HFCS is heated to about 45 °C (113 °F), hydroxymethylfurfural can form from the breakdown of fructose, and is toxic to bees. One study that followed the concentration of HMF in syrups stored at different temperatures states that past 40 °C the HMF content can dramatically increase. This increase can be predicted by the pH content of the syrup along with other factors. Syrups with higher pH would produce less HMF._

I found another source that summarizes what happens in a very, very easy to read summary:

http://projectapism.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Sammataro_Guidelines-for-HFCS-Storage.pdf


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## rolftonbees (Jul 10, 2014)

given the levels of fructose naturslly occuring in sugar, this makes on go hmmmmm... regarding acid treatments for mites.


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## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

rolftonbees said:


> given the levels of fructose naturslly occuring in sugar, this makes on go hmmmmm... regarding acid treatments for mites.


 But does the OA get into the sealed honey enough to cause a problem with HMF? I am not sure, but you bring up a good point.


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

rolftonbees said:


> given the levels of fructose naturslly occuring in sugar....


Isn't sugar sucrose?


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## jonsl (Jul 16, 2016)

Sucrose is ~50% fructose and 50% glucose.


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## Richard Cryberg (May 24, 2013)

Nabber86 said:


> But does the OA get into the sealed honey enough to cause a problem with HMF? I am not sure, but you bring up a good point.


Honey is naturally acidic. Typical pH values are between 3 and 4. The tiny amount of oxalic acid used in treating mites is not going to have any significant impact on honey pH, even if all of it ended up in the honey which is not what happens. In fact some oxalic acid is found in honey naturally.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

I use to feed HFCS for winter stores and now have completely switched over to winter feed sucrose. Since the switch I've found my hive fronts to be much cleaner and less blow outs coming out of winter. 
But there is another factor that has come into play about the same time. Nosema Ceranae has taken over and does not display the same symptoms as Apis. I'll ride infections if 25m spore counts which show zero symptoms whereas Apis use to blow out at 1-2m counts... 
does any of these observations relate to the HFCS or the nosema infections, I don't know


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

Ian said:


> I use to feed HFCS for winter stores and now have completely switched over to winter feed sucrose. Since the switch I've found my hive fronts to be much cleaner and less blow outs coming out of winter.


Interesting


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