HMF? How is it caused?

[dpearce4]

I understand that HMF is bad for bees and you can produce it when heating sugar for syrup and also heating up honey for sale. but how is it caused? what temps and stuff and how come you dont get it when making fondant? or if you do how come its not so bad for the bees.

Sorry if this is a dumb question. im just really confused by it.

 

[adrian wilford]

whats hmf?

 

[Winker]

whats hmf?

hydroxy-methyl-furfural

 

[Hivemaker.]

Try Wiki. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxymethylfurfural

Not so sure about the home made fondant,but the commercially produced fondant like from Bako is not heated.

 

[drstitson]

so long as your fondant is white/grey rather than cream, yellow or brown you are ok.

 

[wightbees]

How about if it is crumly hard white...ish

 

[MuswellMetro]

How about if it is crumly hard white...ish

problably a lump of Chalk from the Needles....i would not feed it to your bees as you will get Chalk Brood

 

[dpearce4]

problably a lump of Chalk from the Needles....i would not feed it to your bees as you will get Chalk Brood

Will all bees on the north and south downs get chalk brood to?

 

[wightbees]

lol

 

[richardbees]

problably a lump of Chalk from the Needles....i would not feed it to your bees as you will get Chalk Brood


not bad, MM

 

[yeogi75]

humm
think christmas wax crayons for kid not chalk they might shove in hive hole ?
second thought not wax crayons in case of wax moth he he he
merry christmas

 

[hallshoney]

does anyone know if you can measure HMF

 

[oliver90owner]

does anyone know if you can measure HMF

Trading Standards do it, so presumably.....

 

[RoofTops]

HMF is not harmful to humans (though it is to bees), things like strawberry jam and coffee have levels of HMF decimal points above the level permitted in honey. As a guide to what honey can be subjected to the following link is useful, although the level in the UK is 40, but it is not an exact science so these time limits are probably worth observing.

http://www.airborne.co.nz/HMF.shtml

 

[alanf]

HMF is Hydroxy-methyl-furfural aka Hydroxy-methyl-furfuraldehyde

It is a breakdown product of fructose in the presence of acid and heat. It's routinely tested for in honey by trading standards because it's an indicator of heat and storage problems in the honey. Not sure of the methods used, but likely to be a quick chemical reagent to indicate a problem followed up by something more quantitative like HPLC. In the UK (the EU and many other countries) the legal maximum level in sold honey is 40 mg/kg.

There is a table that David Cramp quotes in his book from a paper by Kushnir and Subers (1964). The heat that produces a level of 30mg/kg in honey:

Temp(C) Time
30 100-300 days
40 20-50 days
50 4-10 days
60 1-2.5 days
70 3-5 hours
80 <2 hours

If you boil sucrose (the normal crystallised cane or beet sugar) it will break down into glucose and fructose. Add acid, it breaks down faster and more of the fructose becomes HMF.

I don't have any data for how much HMF home made fondant will have (anybody?), but the basics must be avoid acid and keep the heat to the minimum needed (heat evenly and quickly, cool rapidly) which is what you have to bear in mind heating to reduce granulation or easing filtering. HMF is toxic to bees, there is a cited paper, Jachimowrtz et al 1975 which may have more details why and levels but I don't have access to.