High-fructose Corn Syrup - Apiculture

Apiculture

In the United States, high-fructose corn syrup has become a sucrose replacement for honey bees. In 2009, a study by Leblanc et al. found that at temperatures above 45 °C (113 °F) HFCS rapidly forms hydroxymethylfurfural, which is toxic to the honey bees being fed HFCS. In 2012, a study by Chensheng Lu et al. found that beehives fed HFCS laced with imidacloprid, a pesticide commonly used on corn crops, died out at a higher rate than beehives fed imidacloprid-free HFCS.