Utah beekeepers have been noticing an unusual red coloring and hints of coconut, cherry, and mint in their honey.
State inspectors believe the honey's strange properties is a product of bees munching on a cocktail of "crushed, rehydrated candy canes and other candy materials." KSL.com reported.
An unnamed beekeeping operation came forward and said they feed this concoction to their own insects; it seems that neighboring hives have gotten a taste for the good stuff.
"We know that it makes terrible tasting honey, and we know that it looks awful," William Burnett, Utah County bee inspector, told KSL.
Bad taste and appearance means the honey is not fit for sale, and the crimson batches have cost beekeepers and estimated tens of thousands of dollars.
Chris Spencer, owner of 3 Bee Honey, first noticed the red honey in July. He has lost at least $50,000 from the ordeal.
"The impact could be bigger," he told KSL.
Larry Lewis, spokesperson for the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, told FOX 13 that the state warned beekeepers not to mix the contaminated product with their unscathed honey.
State law says in order for a product to be called "honey" it must be produced by bees that "forage on plants and flowers," these bees have been foraging on something sweeter.
"Quite frankly, it doesn't taste very good if you're storing simple sugar in the hive," Burnett told FOX. "You want the flavor of the flowers. You want the pollen. You want the things that make honey honey to be there."
Humans are not the only ones suffering consequences from the bees' strange dining choices. Spencer has noticed blood production problems in his hives. He collected "breeder queens" to test them and analyze their genetic material, KSL reported.
"It's been contaminated," Spencer said. "The dye's actually in the genetic material, which it shouldn't be."
Scientists are also taking a look at the honey, to see if it could potentially harm humans.
"We're coming together with the beekeepers, the industry and our experts to determine what is the situation: Is it severe or is it not severe?" Lewis told KSL.
Experts are still unsure if the situation will have a "lasting impact on breeding."
The "red honey epidemic" has already spread across three Utah counties.
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