Why are French bees producing colored honey?
Bees in one French town are crafting honey in startling shades of blue and green, and beekeepers are blaming a nearby candy plant
The story: Beekeepers in Ribeauville, a small town in France's Alsace region, were baffled when they discovered that their bees were producing honey in unnatural shades of green and blue. When apiarists spotted the bees carrying a colorful substance back to their hives, they traced it to a nearby bio-gas plant that processes waste from an M&Ms factory. The theory: The bees opted to collect the sugary waste instead of sourcing pollen from flowering plants because it's easier. The British Beekeepers Association says that the harsh winter of 2011-12 may have affected the bees' ability to forage, and led them to seek out alternate sources of sugar.
The fallout: While the blue honey is pretty to look at, beekeepers are seeing red, and have deemed it unusable — a serious blow for French apiarists who generate 18,330 tons of honey per year. "For me, it's not honey," said Alain Frieh, the president of the apiculturists' union. "It's not sellable." Agrivalor, the company that operates the biogas plant, says it's working to address the problem by cleaning containers and being more vigilant about covering waste storage bins.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Shopping trolleys: the new must-have accessory
Speed Read Sales are soaring as new designs help shed that old-fashioned image
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
5 ways to help the environment while on vacation
The Week Recommends An afternoon of planting trees could be the best part of your trip
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Doctors are taking on dental duties in low-income areas
Under the radar Physicians are biting into the dentistry industry
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published