> I'd be curious to hear people's opinion on how much feed (sugar, HFCS, 
> etc.) makes it into honey...and what percentage of feeds should be 
> allowable in honey.  Looking at the proposed and established honey 
> standards (Florida and others), it seems 0%.

It should be zero, however in real life, it may not always be exactly zero.

Zero in the strictest sense means that not one molecule can be found.   As 
accountants and engineers and mathematicians will be happy to explain, 
though, zero can have different meanings.

As regulators will explain, any measurement is dependant on the accuracy of 
the method and instruments and the standard used.  In the case of sugars and 
honey, although the instruments are good, the other two are not very good --  
yet -- largely because honey varies so much itself in composition.

As we know, *anything* that is placed into a beehive is likely to affect the 
honey to some extent, although that effect may well be vanishingly small.

In the case of feeds, because they are used in quantity, and there is a 
chance of error due to miscalculation, it is important that any feeds used 
are fit for human consumption as well.

How hives are managed has a great influence on how much of the feed and 
honey in a brood chamber, if any, makes it into the supers.  Sometimes the 
honey from the supers migrates to the brood chamber.

Nonetheless, this is one of those questions which has been around for a long 
time.  Everyone knows there is migration of honey through a hive and that if 
sugar feeds are used, there must be some transfer.  Studies with marked feed 
have shown variable conclusions, and generally my understanding is that 
there is little concern where good practices are followed.

AFAIK, the matter is also somewhat moot because sugar syrup and HFCS make up 
a fair proportion of the current Western diet and have been considered 
harmless.   The concern has been largely economic since honey is more 
valuable than sugar or HFCS.

Some question whether or not sugar or HFCS is indeed harmless.  My mother 
has a friend who is allergic to table sugar.  How can that be, one might 
ask?  I don't know, but perhaps some residual cane or beet component or some 
factor used in refining may trigger that reaction.  Others now question 
whether HFCS has adverse health effects.

To beekeepers the question of adulteration is quite material.  If 5 or 10% 
of the product sold as honey is actually sugar or HFCS, then that increases 
the supply and drops the price of actual honey.  A 5 or 10% change in supply 
can move prices considerably more than 5 or 10%

As for the amount of legitimate bee feeds which get into the final product 
in legitimate beekeeping businesses, I expect it is very small.  The 
beekeepers I know are very scrupulous about product purity as a matter of 
personal pride and also are very aware of the dire consequences of failing a 
purity or contamination test.

On the other hand, because the detection methods are imprecise, some are 
willing to take a chance.  There are always those who for whatever reason 
cheat and some "honey" on the market is highly suspect.

When and if the detection methods become precise, some allowance will have 
to be made, I suppose, but at present, I think we are safe in a assuming 
that zero means undetectable.  Currently, my understanding is that means 
less than 5%. 

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