Medex found the antibiotics that are not allowed in beekeeping as part of its regular internal controls.

Traces of Oxytetracycline and Tetracycline were detected in 994 kilos of honey last May, of Trimethoprim and Sulfamonomethoxin in another 931 kilos in June, and of Trimethoprim and Sulfametoxazol in 580 kilos of honey in August.

In total, 2,505 kilos of honey had to be destroyed.

According to the head of control at Medex, Teja Mižigoj, the national Inspection for Food Safety, Veterinary Sector and Plant Protection was immediately informed of the discovery.

Chief inspector Andreja Bizjak told commercial broadcaster POP TV last night that all three beekeepers had been fined as well as the beekeeper who wanted to pass their honey as his own.

The inspectors paid all these beekeepers and some others a visit and found another 80 kilos of contaminated honey, which was also destroyed. Additional tests had to be made for another 300 kilos of honey, which proved to be safe for use.

Asked why the public had not been informed of this sooner, Bizjak said that the Food Safety Administration was informing consumers of any potential threats but in this case the raw material was destroyed before it could enter production.

She stressed Slovenia's system of informing consumers of potentially dangerous food was in line with EU standards.

The head of the Slovenian Beekeepers' Association, Boštjan Noč, told POP TV that the oversight over Slovenian honey was among the best in Europe.

Slovenian honey is tested by the state, by the Beekeepers' Association and as part of three mechanisms ensuring the quality of EU-made honey, he noted.

"We have 11,000 beekeepers and it is unfair to cast a shadow of doubt on all of them based on these three beekeepers," Noč said.