Designer Honey?

UsedToBeHusky
UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,228 Member
How long before companies start employing this as a method to make honey in different colors?

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/10/05/mm-loving-bees-make-colorful-honey/

YAY M&M's!

Replies

  • tat2dmrsgrimm
    tat2dmrsgrimm Posts: 226 Member
    Personally, when I saw the headline, I thought, "Cool, they figured out a way to feel bees fruit juice or something to make honey turn pretty colors."
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    Looks like Gak. Barf.
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
    That's very interesting, but I am glad the M&M factories are doing something to stop it from happening. This is another situation of "humans are being messy, and nature is taking a hit." I don't think the food colouring is doing anything good for the bees, and the bees feeding off of the processed sugar instead of flowers is going to reduce the number of pollinated flowers.

    Cool though.
  • MelisRunning
    MelisRunning Posts: 819 Member
    I am a bee keeper and am here to tell you that bees love sweets! There is a guy who has his apiaries near a cherry canning plant and his bees make the prettiest red honey you could ever want to see!
  • dmf711
    dmf711 Posts: 141 Member
    I'm kind of glad to see that the scientists involved immediately squashed any hopes of this becoming a trend. Anyone remember PURPLE ketchup?! I mean, come on....
  • Alex_is_Hawks
    Alex_is_Hawks Posts: 3,499 Member
    I'm kind of glad to see that the scientists involved immediately squashed any hopes of this becoming a trend. Anyone remember PURPLE ketchup?! I mean, come on....

    i don't...and I am thankful for that....seriously purple?!?!?
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,228 Member
    That's very interesting, but I am glad the M&M factories are doing something to stop it from happening. This is another situation of "humans are being messy, and nature is taking a hit." I don't think the food colouring is doing anything good for the bees, and the bees feeding off of the processed sugar instead of flowers is going to reduce the number of pollinated flowers.

    Cool though.

    Honestly, I think this is an example of nature becoming lazy. Humans didn't just decide to become fat and lazy. It is our natural instinct to take the path of least resistance... as it is for all creatures. The bees just found a readily available source of what they needed. Why suck out fractions of a microgram of nectar out of every flower in a field of 100 or so flowers when you could collect large volumes of a relatively suitable replacement from a vat of defective M&M's?

    The effects of the artificial colors is likely to be minimal since it's not hazardous to humans, but that would have to be tested in a controlled study for sure. The bees are just trying to find a way to survive.
  • SarahCW1979
    SarahCW1979 Posts: 572 Member
    I'm kind of glad to see that the scientists involved immediately squashed any hopes of this becoming a trend. Anyone remember PURPLE ketchup?! I mean, come on....

    i don't...and I am thankful for that....seriously purple?!?!?

    We had green ketchup :ohwell: It was gross
  • tat2dmrsgrimm
    tat2dmrsgrimm Posts: 226 Member
    I'm kind of glad to see that the scientists involved immediately squashed any hopes of this becoming a trend. Anyone remember PURPLE ketchup?! I mean, come on....

    My grandparents bought it for my younger cousins. I tried it. It had the texture of finger paint and tasted funky, and left a weird after taste.