For the first time, a beekeeper in the province of Osmaniye has found blood-red honey in one of his beehives. "I have never seen red honey before. All my other beehives produced honey in its normal color yet this one has a distinct red color. I asked some other beekeepers, but they said they have not seen this before," beekeeper Şahin Eser said. After the first examinations, it was said that red honey has a different smell and taste. Emin Gaffaroğlu, the president of the Osmaniye Beekeepers' Association, said that more specific results will come after a thorough analysis. Adnan Bozdoğan, an associate professor at Osmaniye Korkut Ata University, said that honey takes its color from certain pigmentations. "The color can be the output of carotene, a color pigment which gives the orange color and another pigment, lycopene, which releases red color. The color change in this honey is a rare situation," he said, adding that it also has a high level of acid. The color pigments and pollen structure of the honey are currently being analyzed in a local laboratory.
