Antibiotic Detected in Bee Products 332 Days After Treatment

Study of the Distribution and Depletion of Chloramphenicol Residues in Bee Products Extracted from Treated Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) Colonies
Apidologie 39 (2008) 537-546, Published online 28 October 2008

Bee colonies were dosed with chloramphenicol (CAP) 1.0 g per hive (single dose in sucrose solution). Samples of honey were then collected at intervals over a 48-week period and samples of royal jelly, beeswax, honeybees and brood collected at intervals over a 12 week period…

These results indicate that use of CAP can be detected up to 332 days after dosing even if the shook swarm procedure is used in an attempt to clean the hives. There was no evidence of any significant formation of bound CAP-glucose conjugates in honey.