Hi all! One of our neighbours has managed to poison bees from my hive and those of several other neighbours; he was poisoning some bees on his block (!!!) and he didn’t realise that they would bring the poison from his block to our hives. Anyway the bees themselves seem to be recovering after lots of them died, but I’m wondering if I have to throw out the honey from the flow hives. What is the suggestion?
Thanks, Peter.
Hi Peter, which poison did they use?
Wow, that is horrible. How do you know the bees were poisoned? The neighbor told you?
Sorry for delay in responding… It was bifenthrin.
Another neighbour who also has bees found his dead and dying and went and spoke to the guy. He said that he had been clearing some wood on his land and there were bees there so he poisoned them!
It was bifenthrin. 
Hi Peter, my guess would be “no”, on account that the stored honey would have been stored by healthy bees. The bees returning with poison will have passed it on to house bees, before they got sick & died away from the hive. With that theory in mind, it would stand to reason that no poison would have made it into the honey super. If it did, I guess the whole colony would have died.
After further consideration on the matter: The disruption of bees dying over that period of time would mean a pause in honey getting added to the honey super, which would reinforce my reason to say “no” to discarding the honey.
How toxic is the pesticide? And how carcinogenic is it?
It depends on the condition of the honey. If it has signs of fermentation (bubbling, sour smell) or contamination, it’s best to discard it. However, crystallized honey is still safe to eat—just gently warm it to return it to liquid form. What issue are you noticing with your Flow Hive honey?