Tetracycline residues in honey after hive treatment

Anne-Claire Martel (1) , Sarah Zeggane (1) , Patrick Drajnudel (1) , Jean-Paul Faucon (1) , Michel Aubert (1)

1 AFSSA - Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments

Tetracyclines are used to control bacterial diseases like European and American foulbrood which may cause severe losses in honey bee population and honey production. This study, using 24 hives randomly distributed into four groups of 6 hives, was performed for measuring the occurrence of tetracycline (TC) residue levels in honey following two types of TC application. Two groups of colonies were treated 3 times with 0.5 g of TC in 1 litre of syrup (group S) or in 10 g of powdered sugar (group P). Six hives of a first control group (group C) fed with untreated syrup were installed at 20 and 45 metres from groups S and P respectively. A second control group (group DC) was disposed 3 km apart. TC residues in honey sampled at different times in all hives and in honey artificially contaminated with TC and stored in the laboratory at 4, 20 and 35°C were analysed by ELISA and HPLC methods. One day after the last application, the mean TC concentration in brood chamber honey was ten times higher in group S (40.7 mg.kg-1) than in group P (4.34 mg.kg-1). After 8 days, TC residues were detected in all hives of group C. After 146 days, the mean TC concentration in harvested honey was 1.54, 0.35, and 0.15 mg.kg-1 for groups S, P and C respectively. The control group C had been contaminated by drifting. In all hives of the group DC, no residues were detected at any time of the study. The honey harvested at day 504 did not contained any detectable TC residues, except in one super from group C (0.026 mg.kg-1). The half-life time of TC in honey from supers was similar in groups C, S and P and equal to 65 days. This duration was twice lower than in honey stored in laboratory in similar conditions : at 35°C in the dark (t1/2 = 121 days). In honey stored at 20°C, TC was quite stable as its half-life time was 242 days. The data from these experiments specify levels of TC residues in honey after a treatment in hives, their persistence and diffusion into the apiary. These results show that the TC must be used with precaution in honey production.

Mots clés: Life Sciences

Anne-Claire Martel, Sarah Zeggane, Patrick Drajnudel, Jean-Paul Faucon, Michel Aubert. Tetracycline residues in honey after hive treatment. Food Additives and Contaminants, 2006, 23 (03), pp.265. ⟨10.1080/02652030500469048⟩. ⟨hal-00577570⟩