Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe French bees give colored honey RIBEAUVILLE, France, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Beekeepers in northern France said a nearby M&M's factory may be to blame for their bees producing blue and green honey. Advertisement Alain Frieh, president of the Union of Beekeepers of Ribeauville, said beekeepers were baffled when their honey came out in shades of blue and green, Euronews reported Friday. "We looked at the hives found the phenomenon was growing, everything pointed to something in the environment," Frieh said. The union soon discovered bees had been swarming at a nearby Mars plant, where they fed on residue from the multicolored candy. The M&M's likely led to the colored honey, ABC News reported. "We didn't imagine they would come foraging for these food dyes. Now everything which might attract the bees is directly treated undercover," said Philippe Meinrad, director of the plant. Stolen puppy back home after long trip Advertisement SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Meeko the puppy, stolen during a San Jose, Calif., burglary, was returned to his 10-year-old owner after being given to a woman in a town 80 miles away. Police said the Yorkie-Shih Tzu mix belonging to Marissa Mabanag was taken Monday and returned to the girl after a woman in a Target parking lot in Los Banos gave the dog to a mother and her family Wednesday night, the San Jose Mercury News reported. "This shows that when a community stands together and good people do something like this great things can happen," said Marie Mabanag, Marissa's mother. "Everyone made an amazing ending for us. This is something that we're never going to forget." Blanca Del Real said she was in the Target parking lot with her 3- and 6-year-old children when a woman approached them with the dog and asked if she wanted to take him. The woman told Del Real she had found the dog wandering in the area. Del Real said she saw an online news report about the dog Thursday and quickly realized it was the same puppy. "I was glad to get the little girl her dog back," Del Real said. "But my little girl was crying so hard. I told her we could get her another dog." Advertisement Del Real received a $6,000 reward from the San Jose Police Officers Association, the San Jose Fire Fighters Local 230 and San Jose City Council member Ash Kalra. Marissa offered Del Real the contents of her piggy bank, several hundred dollars, but the woman gave the girl her money back. Officials: Freeing bear too hazardous EMO, Ontario, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources said agents were unable to remove a snare from around the neck of a bear. The ministry said the bear was reported near the town of Emo and agents attempted to tranquilize the animal, but the bear's weight and the large number of bears in the area made the job hazardous, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Friday. "It was a really hazardous thing for our conservation officers and technicians to be attempting to try to trap or chemically immobilize a bear when there are, you know, another 40 bears wandering around," MNR spokeswoman Jolanta Kowalski said. "We do know that the bear can still open its mouth, and it can eat," she said. "But, we are not going to put the safety of our staff at risk in a situation like that again." Advertisement The spokeswoman said Michael Scheibler, the resident who reported the bear had a snare digging into the flesh of its neck, has a habit of feeding the local bears, contributing to the ensnared bear's weight. Hotel founder apologizes for China comment PARIS, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- A French fashion designer planning to open a Paris hotel has apologized for saying Chinese tourists would not be welcome to stay at the facility. Thierry Gillier, founder of label Zadig and Voltaire, said his comment during an interview with Women's Wear Daily was misunderstood, the BBC reported Friday. Gillier told the magazine the hotel "won't be open to Chinese tourists," but he now says the statement was meant to illustrate the exclusivity of the hotel and show it would not be geared toward mass tourism. "My remarks were doubtless clumsy ... I understand they might have hurt my friends from China, France or elsewhere, and I am deeply sorry for that," he said in a statement Thursday. The Zadig hotel is scheduled to open in 2014.
