Effect of hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF) on the Longevity and food consumption of Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) workers

Abstract

The study was ‎carried out at the apiary and in the ‎laboratory of the Bee Research ‎Department, Plant Protection Research ‎Institute, Agricultural Research Center, ‎Ministry of Agriculture, Giza, Egypt, ‎during the year, 2023. Honey bee workers, the supporting force of the colony, and a measure of the queen's efficiency, as the increase in the size of the colony population and the presence of age sequence, are evidence of the efficiency of the queen and the goodness and efficiency of the pasture. The absence of natural nectar or pollen sources may force beekeepers to use alternatives, some beekeepers may resort to feeding bees with things that are not suitable for human use as a result of poor storage, long-term storage, or heat treatment of honey, which increases the levels of HMF. Accordingly, the level of HMF content in the fresh clover honey sample was estimated using a spectrophotometer, which was estimated at 1.92, it was divided and exposed to heat to reach HMF levels of 40 mg/Kg، 80mg/Kg, 200mg/Kg, 400mg/Kg, 700mg/Kg, 3700mg/Kg.  The experiment was conducted on newly hatched bees inside small cages, containing 100 workers. The results obtained show that food consumption is inversely proportional to the levels of HMF in honey which are recorded as 7.02±0.07 for fresh honey and 1.78±0.30 for honey with HMF level of 3700 mg/Kg, the proportion of longevity is also directly proportional to its proportion HMF (33, 27, 24, 24, 18, 15 and 9 days for fresh honey, 40mg/Kg، 80mg/Kg, 200mg/Kg, 400mg/Kg, 700mg/Kg, 3700mg/Kg, respectively). Therefore, using honey with HMF High in feeding bee colonies is not recommended as an alternative in scarce pasture or during the winter season.