However, the sweet can carry spores of yeast, mold and bacteria. In addition, it can be inadvertently inoculated with other undesirable microbes. Although these microbes cannot grow in honey with the possible exception of some molds and yeasts, they do persist in honey and, therefore, may be introduced when honey is used as an ingredient in another product. Microbial spores are present everywhere, Dr. Snowden, concludes. They are found in honey in the hive and could come from primary sources such as pollen, the digestive tracts of honey bees and nectar.
Environmental contamination is also a possibility .
It is difficult and often impractical to control these sources. There are no good technologies to regulate the quality of air, dust, earth, and flowers or other materials carried into the hive by bees. In addition, there is no information on how conditions in the hive influence the microbial composition of honey. Good beekeeping practice probably keeps the background level of microbes low in honey. Ironically, the good hygienic environment of a bee colony appears to be responsible for the failure of certain microbes introduced to control the Varroa mite.