French Bees Produce Blue Honey

By JuJu Kim

Mars Incorporated has proclaimed that “Chocolate is better in color” with its M&Ms. But French beekeepers may beg to differ on that.

Since August, beekeepers near the town of Ribeauville, in the northeastern region of Alsace, have been reporting their bees are producing blue and green honey, according to Reuters. And they’ve traced the cause back to a biogas plant that processes waste from an M&Ms factory…….Gill Maclean, a spokesperson for the British Beekeepers’ Association, told the BBC that the harsh winter of 2011-2012 may have affected bees’ ability to forage. This could be a reason why the bees sought out the alternate sugar.

“Bees are clever enough to know where the best sources of sugar are, if there are no others available,” Maclean told the BBC.  Rest assured: Consumers won’t see blue honey on store shelves anytime soon. Alain Frieh, president of the apiculturists’ union, told Reuters the only similarity between regular honey and their bees’ M&M-tainted byproducts might be taste.

“For me, it’s not honey,” Frieh told Reuters. “It’s not sellable.”   To Read the Whole Article...

My Take – I wonder how many people remember the Madras shirts of 1960’s?  Apparently Madras has been around for some time, but I distinctly remember the advertising that year….because they advertised with this line; ‘my madras shirts and shorts are guaranteed to ‘bleed” became a slogan for the quality of the madras.  Everyone bought madras shirts that year….and they did fade.  Their site claims that this was deliberate, but I remember back to those days and I also remember reading how this was an accident and they didn’t know what to do about it until some advertising wag came up with the idea that they should advertise this as a positive.  And it worked.

So, my question is this.  Is this product “not sellable” or is it that the French are just unwilling to sell it?  

After all; in the 70’s they were able to sell “pet rocks” at Christmas time in Cleveland, Ohio.  Clevelanders aren't noted for being gulled by such nonsense, but that seemed to tickle everyone’s fancy that year.  They sold so well that the stores ran out, so the next year they made sure they had an abundant supply of “pet rocks”.  Few sold.  Clevelanders may be silly at times, but when it comes to wasting their money; they aren’t stupid.  Unless of course it is being done by the political leadership in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County!  They will vie with anyone in the world for that distinction….proudly!

If shirts that ‘are guaranteed to bleed’ can be made hot items, and rocks can be turned into pets; with a printed pedegree in the box; and sold to Clevelanders; blue honey could be turned into a great ‘exotic’ gourmet food, assuming that it is edible.  Or perhaps it is only in America where we see honey when the world sees…..nothing!