Their honey also turned as red as cough syrup. She tells The New York Times a friend joked that the bees were imbibing the runoff at Dell's Maraschino Cherries Company, in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn.

Mayo - whose first name means "cherry" in French - raises bees in that neighborhood and across the water on Governor's Island. Tests confirmed the bees were riddled with Red Dye No. 40 - the same food coloring found in the cherry juice. Bee expert Andrew Cote tells the newspaper that bees had been creating a big nuisance at the factory.

The solution? Put up screens or provide a closer source of sweet nectar.