Washington is buzzing over an unusual lobbying push by the U.S. honey industry, which is asking the federal government for help amid lower domestic honey production and a flood of cheap imports from China.

With vocal assistance from Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), U.S. beekeepers, honey producers and packers are pressing the Obama administration to crack down on "honey launderers" in China who ship the product through third countries to avoid the sting of anti-dumping duties.

Industry groups and some lawmakers are also pressing the Food and Drug Administration to establish a national "standard of identity" for honey to ensure that products are 100 percent pure, rather than diluted with other sweeteners to cut costs or evade import restrictions.

But honey advocates complain that the FDA and other federal agencies have swatted away their concerns.

BEIJING (AP) — Businessman Yan Yongxiang was trying to get around stiff U.S. levies on imports of cheap Chinese honey. So he sent 15 shipping containers of cut-rate honey to the Philippines, where it was relabeled and sent on to the United States.

It's called honey-laundering, and the subterfuge let Yan skirt $656,515 in taxes before he was caught in a bust and pleaded guilty. Yan's factory in central China's Henan province even filtered the metals and pollen from the honey so that U.S. tests would not show it came from China, according to the 60-year-old's plea agreement. Now he awaits sentencing in a U.S. jail.

A substance produced by bees can halt the spread of the superbug MRSA, according to Scottish researchers.

The insect creates a sticky material, called beeglue or propolis, to hold the sides of the beehive together and keep out germs and viruses.

Scientists at Strathclyde University have used compounds extracted from beeglue to attack MRSA strains, and found they prevent the bacteria from growing.