Don’t Bee Blue:
Honey of a Different Color
French Beekeeper Displays Honey
Photo: Vincent Kessler, Reuters
Honey bees produce some of nature’s perfect foods and naturalists will tell you that we are still trying to figure them out. Bee Pollen, bees wax and raw honey are considered staples for a healthy diet. Bees draw nectar from flowering plants and then return to the hive to turn that nectar into food for winter. The bees are carrying pollen on their bodies, and seal the cells with wax that is a sought after commodity. The honey comb contains pollen, honey and bees wax. Bee keepers used to break of pieces of the raw honey comb and put it right into a jar to sell to neighbors.
Honey is processed more than it was in those days of old; the honey has to pass purity tests before it can be brought to market. That’s why some honey in France will never make it to market this year. There are impurities that were not only unexpected, but produced honey of a vastly different color… or colors.
Honey colors range from golden to amber to a deep rich brown. The honey’s color is based on the available diet for the honey bees. The most commonly recognized honey comes from bees that collect nectar from clover. Honey is produced in virtually every country in the world, although not every country exports their local honey.
Imagine the surprise of French beekeepers when they opened up their hives and found the colors of the rainbow. Blue honey, green honey… they knew something must be wrong. It had to be in the bee’s diet, but what would produce such an array of colors?
Bees will collect anything that is sweet, even drinking sugar water that is provided by the bee keepers to supplement their diet. That’s why some bees will be found near the dumpsters in the back of restaurants, malls, schools and gas stations. As far as bees are concerned, sugar is sugar, regardless of the source.
When the beekeepers followed the bees to find out where they were feeding, the bees led them to an M&M factory. The bees had gained access to the sugary colored coating mixture that makes that solid candy shell. They found it good and started making honey from it. The factory is looking into ways to solve the problem, and the bee keepers are out a bit of honey.
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