BEETOX The project responds to a request from the beekeeping sector which wast faced in 2009-2010, with many losses of honey bee colonies. Subsequent analysis showed that these colonies were fed an invert sugar beet with a high concentration of HMF during the winter. Data from the literature are limited but several authors acknowledge the harmful effects of HMF on bee health. At present, the lack of toxicological reference data that's not limit toelat for definitive measures that would counteract the problem.