> Recently, there was a report that feeding HFCS could be harmful to bees because it might be contaminated with neonicotinoids (Lu et al., 2012). In the study by Lu et al. (2012), the neonicotinoid imidacloprid was added to HFCS and fed to colonies for 13 weeks.

> HFCS samples from Tate and Lyle, Archer Daniels Midland, Roquette and Mann Lake were sent to the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson, AZ, USA in 2008. Samples were analyzed for the presence of 174 different agrochemicals including 17 neonicotinoids and their metabolites. 

> There were no pesticides detected in any of the HFCS samples. Herbicides and fungicides also were absent from the samples. Although neonicotinoids can be harmful to bees, our results suggest that a point of entry into colonies is not from feeding HFCS. The HFCS manufacturing process apparently mitigates rather than concentrates any pesticide residues that might be present.

Are agrochemicals present in High Fructose Corn Syrup fed to honey bees (Apis mellifera L.)?
Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman, Diana Sammataro and Roger Simonds
Journal of Apicultural Research 51(4): 371-372 (2012) © IBRA 2012

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