Bees at a cluster of apiaries in France have been producing honey in mysterious shades of blue and green, alarming their keepers, who now believe residue from M&M sweets processed at a nearby biogas plant is the cause.
Since August beekeepers around Ribeauvillé in the Alsace region have seen bees returning to their hives carrying unidentified colourful substances that turned their honey unnatural shades. They discovered that a biogas plant 4km (2.5 miles) away has been processing waste from a Mars plant producing M&Ms, sweets in bright red, blue, green, yellow and brown shells. The unsellable honey is a new headache for beekeepers already dealing with high bee mortality rates and dwindling honey supplies following a harsh winter. – (Reuters)
