Metro

Queens bee man accused of funny-honey ‘scam’

The Queens man who kept 3 million bees in his back yard has been accused of diluting his honey with corn syrup and selling more than half a ton of it to a bakery.

Yi Gin Chen, 58, of Corona — who needed cops Wednesday to help round up the insects after he lost control of his 45 hives — duped a local bakery out of about $6,000 by selling it 1,200 pounds of adulterated honey last month, said Andrew Cote of the New York Beekeepers Association.

“He gave them a sample, and it was just fine,” said Cote, who wouldn’t name the bakery for fear of ruining their business. “Then they bought the honey from him, and it turned out he had cut it severely with corn syrup. We tasted it, and you could tell right away. . . . It was the old bait and switch.”

A vendor would need a state permit to sell that much honey. Chen, speaking through an interpreter yesterday, refused to say whether he had one and denied ever selling honey. He said he raised bees only as a hobby.

“It’s an absolute baldface lie,” he said, claiming he never adulterated honey.

Chen claimed Cote demanded $1,250 for finding a buyer for the hives and helping prep them for removal.

“Mr. Chen wanted to get them out of there,” said Chen’s pal Dalton Garis who paid half of Cote’s fee.

Garis, 64, explained the large number of bees by saying, “Have you ever seen a cat lady? Same deal.”

Cote said that he was paid to seal the hives and that he had pals who wanted to buy them but backed out after learning the bees were diseased.