Cherry juice turns Brooklyn bees and honey red | TRENDS / EAT

(David Selig of Red Hook, Brooklyn, a restaurant owner and amateur beekeeper, was disappointed that instead of honey his bees had produced a red concoction more reminiscent of maraschino cherries, or of cough syrup. via NYTimes.com)

We've been following the urban beekeeping trend for some time now. In an interesting twist, the New York Times reported this week on a mystery solved involving a Red Hook, Brooklyn hive of bees changing color. That's a change of color in both the bees themselves (added bright red stripes) and the honey they were producing. So what was the culprit, you ask? Apparently, the bees were indulging in the sweet flavor of maraschino cherry juice from a nearby factory.

But Mr. Selig [who owns the restaurant chain Rice and raises the bees as a hobby] said there was something extraordinary, too, about those corn-syrup-happy bees that came flying back this summer.

“When the sun is a bit down, they glow red in the evenings,” he said. “They were slightly fluorescent. And it was beautiful.”
[via NYTimes.com]

Personally, the sound of maraschino flavored honey isn't so terrible…in fact, it sounds quite tasty. Maybe these bees are just bored of making the same old stuff season after season? Whatever the case, now that the mystery is solved, all involved parties are going to work to prevent the bees from overindulging in the red stuff...

-jmd