Bees cross city for cherry juice

NEW YORK, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- A New York woman whose bees have been showing bright red coloring said she thinks they are traveling back to her old neighborhood for maraschino cherry juice.

Cerise Mayo, who lives on Governors Island in the city's Manhattan borough, said her bees have been showing bright red stripes and her honeycombs have been turning the same color, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

Mayo said a friend jokingly suggested the bees were traveling to the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, where she previously kept the insects until moving in May, to feed from the vats at Dell's Maraschino Cherries Co. However, she said the substance turning the bees red was later identified by an expert as Red Dye No. 40, the dye used for the cherries, and workers at the company reported seeing unusually large numbers of bees around the business.

Andrew Cote, the leader of the New York City Beekeepers Association, was hired by the factory's owner to help deal with the insect issue.

"Bees will forage from any sweet liquid in their flight path for up to three miles," Cote said. He said solving the issue "could be as easy as putting up some screens, or providing a closer source of sweet nectar."