The importance of honey adulteration detection has recently increased owing to the limited production levels in recent years and the relative high price of honey; therefore, this illegal practice has become more and more attractive to producers. Hence, the need has arisen for more effective analytical methods aiming at detecting honey adulteration. The present research presents an effective method to detect adulteration in honey falsified by intentional addition of different concentrations of commercial sugar syrups, using one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) coupled with multivariate statistical analysis. Sixty-three authentic and 63 adulterated honey samples were analyzed. To prepare adulterated honeys, seven different sugar syrups normally used for nutrition of bees were used. The best discriminant model was obtained by 1D spectra, and leave-one-out cross-validation showed a predictive capacity of 95.2%. 2D NMR also furnished acceptable results (cross-validation correct classification 90.5%), although the (1)H NMR sequence is preferable because it is the simplest and fastest NMR technique.

-Beekeepers interested in converting their honey farms to organic management must replace old combs with organic foundations. The experiment described in this paper compares two methods of replacement of old combs, "fast" (5 combs per year) and "slow" (2 combs per year), by measuring the levels of acaricide residues in the newly built combs. Tested acaricides were coumaphos (Perizin and Asuntol), fluvalinate (Apistan), and chlorfenvinphos (Supona). Significant differences between the two replacement groups were observed only for the Apistan group in the third year, confirming high lipophilicity of fluvalinate. The residue levels in the new combs three years after beginning the conversion were significantly lower than initial levels for all products. Direct contamination of the combs was highest in Asuntol-treated hives and lowest in Perizin-treated hives. Residues in honey exceeding EU Maximum Residue Limit were found only in the case of Asuntol.Apis mellifera / acaricide / organic beekeeping / residues / wax

In more than half of the analysed samples, residues of at least one active ingredient were detected. The mean levels of residues of all the considered active ingredients in the positive samples may represent a source of accumulation in beeswax and pose risks to honey bee health. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

Honey as a topical treatment for infected wounds dates back to ancient times. However, few studies have been reported concerning the medical properties of Italian honey. In this study, the microbial contamination, the antimicrobial activity and the antibiotic residues of 6 different varieties of Piedmont honeys were evaluated. The antimicrobial activity of honeys was tested by agar well diffusion method and 1 honey for each variety has been selected and tested by broth micro-dilution test to determine Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) and evaluated by Minimum Bactericidal Concentrations (MBCs). The honeys with a high level of antibacterial activity were analyzed for the presence of tetracyclines, sulfonamides and macrolide residues. The agar well diffusion method showed the greatest antimicrobial activity for honeydew, chestnut and lime tree honeys. The MICs and MBCs identified the close similarity to the medical manuka honey of honeydew, polyfloral and chestnut honey. The levels of antibiotic residues on these honeys were below the limit of quantification. Based on our results the Italian variety of honeydew showed the best antimicrobial activity and can be considered for the treatment of infected wounds in animals.

With 2,000 species currently recorded in Europe, bees are a highly diversified and efficient group of pollinating insects. They obtain their nutrients from nectar and pollen of flowers. However, the chemical composition of these resources, especially of pollen (e.g., protein, lipid, amino acids, fatty acids, or sterol content), is highly variable among plant species. While it is well-known that bees show interspecific variation in their floral choices, there is a lack of information on the nutritional requirements of different bee species. We therefore developed original experiments in laboratory conditions to evaluate the interspecific variations in bee nutritional requirements. We analyzed the chemical content of eight pollen blends, different in terms of protein, lipid, amino acids, and sterols total concentration and profiles. Each pollen blend was provided to four different bee model species: honey bees (Apis mellifera), bumblebees (Bombus terrestris), mason bees (Osmia bicornis and Osmia cornuta). For each species, specific protocols were used to monitor their development (e.g., weight, timing, survival) and resource collection. Overall, we found that the nutritional requirements across those species are different, and that a low-quality diet for one species is not necessarily low-quality for another one. While honey bees are negatively impacted by diets with a high protein content (~40%), bumblebees and mason bees develop normally on these diets but struggle on diets with a low total amino acid and sterol content, specifically with low concentrations of 24-methylenecholesterol and β-sitosterol. Overall, our study supports the need of conserving and/or introducing plant diversity into managed ecosystems to meet the natural nutritional preferences of bees at species and community level.