Sunday Times 2
Blue and green honey makes French beekeepers see red
View(s):MULHOUSE, France (Reuters) – Bees at a cluster of apiaries in northeastern France have been producing honey in mysterious shades of blue and green, alarming their keepers who now believe residue from containers of M&M’s candy processed at a nearby biogas plant is the cause.
Since August, beekeepers around the town of Ribeauville in the region of Alsace have seen bees returning to their hives carrying unidentified colorful substances that have turned their honey unnatural shades. Mystified, the beekeepers embarked on an investigation and discovered that a biogas plant 4 km (2.5 miles) away has been processing waste from a Mars plant producing M&M’s. Asked about the issue, Mars had no immediate comment.
The unsellable honey is a new headache for around a dozen affected beekeepers already dealing with high bee mortality rates and dwindling honey supplies following a harsh winter, said Alain Frieh, president of the apiculturists’ union.
Bee numbers have been rapidly declining around the world in the last few years and the French government has banned a widely used pesticide, Cruiser OSR, that one study has linked to high mortality rates.
France is one of the largest producers of honey within the European Union, producing some 18,330 tonnes annually.
As for the M&M’s-infused honey, union head Frieh said it might taste like honey, but there the comparison stopped. “For me, it’s not honey. It’s not sellable.”
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