Brooklyn Bees Producing Bright Red Honey

Beekeepers in Red Hook, Brooklyn are experiencing a bittersweet dilemma. Instead of producing honey, their bees are secreting an overly saccharine and metallic-tasting, glowing red liquid.

When the beekeepers sought help for this problem from a local apiculturist, it was discovered that the “honey” was laced with Red Dye No. 40, a dye used in maraschino cherry juice. Further investigation revealed that the bees were foraging for food in a local maraschino cherry factory a few miles away from their hives, and rejecting the food sources provided for them by their keepers. Instead, they were feasting on syrup from the factory that contains high-fructose corn syrup and red dye, which is likely the cause of the red-colored honey that the bees have been yielding.

What is the solution to this sticky situation? The New York Times quotes Andrew Coté from the New York City Beekeepers Association:

“Bees will forage from any sweet liquid in their flight path for up to three miles,” Mr. Coté said. While he has not yet visited the factory, he said that the bees might be drinking from its runoff, and that solving the problem “could be as easy as putting up some screens, or providing a closer source of sweet nectar.”

NY Times: “The Mystery of the Red Bees of Red Hook”