bees honey veganism

[Guest guest]

Why Honey is Not Vegan

This essay explains why most vegans do not eat honey. It also attempts to

convince all

vegans not to eat honey. If you are unfamiliar with veganism, please read Why

Vegan.

By Definition

The simplest reason why honey isn't vegan is by definition. The term vegan was

coined by

in 1944 and was defined as follows:

Veganism is a way of living which excludes all forms of exploitation of, and

cruelty to, the

animal kingdom, and includes a reverence for life. It applies to the practice of

living on the

products of the plant kingdom to the exclusion of flesh, fish, fowl, eggs,

honey, animal

milk and its derivatives, and encourages the use of alternatives for all

commodities derived

wholly or in part from animals (Stepaniak).

Health and environmental " vegans " please take note.

But we don't need to go back to 1944 to define honey as not vegan--any

definition of

veganism would talk about reducing animal suffering, and honeybees (Apis

mellifera) are,

without a doubt, animals. Do vegans only care about the phyla " above " Arthropoda

(the

one bees are in)? No, Arthropoda includes lobster and crabs. Let's try the

crustaceans and

everything above Arthropoda? Sadly, that leaves the earthworms vulnerable to

dissection

in biology classes. Also, scallops, snails, and oysters are fair game--they are

not as " high

up " on the evolutionary scale as bees. and Carol Gould (respectively, a

professor of

ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton and a full-time science writer)

point out that

" Honey bees are at the top of their part of the evolutionary tree, whereas

humans are the

most highly evolves species on our branch. To look at honeybees, then, is to see

one of

the two most elegant solutions to the challenges of life on our planet. More

interesting,

perhaps, than the many differences are the countless eerie parallels--convergent

evolutionary answers to similar problems " (Gould, x). Of course, all this talk

of higher and

lower is complete fiction. Even Darwin reminded himself to " Never use the words

higher

and lower " (Dunayer, 13).

Are Bees Smart?

Before we go any further, please take a moment to meet the honeybees. So why do

bees

get the short end of the stick? Is it because they are not intelligent? There is

evidence that

says they are. People have been studying bee behavior for hundreds of years,

and with

good reason. But of course, it's just all pheromones and instinct, right? They

act in ways

that suggest intelligence, but there's a simple biochemical explanation. (And

this is

different from humans in what way?) Placing all of this aside, what about a

possible bee

imagination? The most compelling indication of bee smarts follows. (Yes, it's

controversial,

but I for one like to err on the side of caution.) Two groups of bees (foragers)

from the

same hive were trained to two food sources, one on the shore and one in the

middle of a

lake. When the food quality was increased at both feeders, both groups of bees

danced in

the hive to tell the rest of the bees where to get the good food. The bees

watching the

shore feeder dance went out and ate at the shore feeder. Perhaps the bees

watching the

lake feeder dance, thought, " Flowers in the middle of a lake? This gal must be

nuts, " and

very few bees went to the lake feeder. So at this point you're thinking those

bees just

didn't want to fly out over a smelly lake? Well, the thoughtful researchers

decided to try

the experiment again and moved the lake feeder close to the opposite shore

(although still

surrounded by plenty of water). That time, the bees seemed to have thought the

food

source to be in a more plausible spot and, following the dance, lots of bees

went to both

feeders (Gould, 222).

What About Pain?

But it really doesn't matter anyway, does it? Vegans typically don't judge

species based on

their intelligence. If it were ok to eat someone because he's dumb, a lot of

humans would

be in trouble. It must be because bees can't feel pain. But why wouldn't bees

feel pain?

They are animals with a large nervous system (Snodgrass, 254) capable of

transmitting

pain signals. And unlike in the case of plants, pain as we know it would be a

useful

evolutionary feature since bees are capable of moving to avoid it. Which, as far

as I'm

concerned, is all that matters. Pain must be unpleasant or else it wouldn't

work.

Regardless of whether or not the bees are " aware " of the pain, it still happens.

It's not like

a person with a disorder who can place her hand on a hot burner and literally

not know

that she is being burned. If common sense isn't good enough, we can always

resort to

scientific studies that indicate that bees feel pain.

Not being a beekeeper myself, it is hard to say why life would be more painful

for kept

bees vs. wild bees. The kept bees would seem to have more contact with humans

and

more bees would die from stinging them. But, again, unless you are a " vegan " who

lives on

a farm and raises animals with lots of love so you can drink their milk and eat

their eggs

(??) pain really isn't the issue either.

The Enslavement of Bees

The simple fact is that the bees are enslaved. What? Bees slaves? Yes, bees as

slaves. Or

it's dominionism, exploitation of nature, etc.--whatever you like to call it. As

Alice

said, " The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made

for

humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for

men. " (I

would also add that plants and the earth were not made for humans either.) What

follows

is a look at specifically how honeybees are exploited by man. Note that this

follows

precisely the same pattern of animal exploitation that you are probably already

familiar

with.

It is important to realize who is keeping these bees. You may have an image in

your mind

of a man (indeed, 5% of US beekeepers are women (Hoff & Schertz Willett, 10))

with a few

hives out in his backyard. While that is in fact the proper image of most

beekeepers, most

honey comes from full-time factory bee farmers; check out some illustrative

charts.

A successor queen is selected by a human instead of the reigning queen--both of

whom

may have been " artificially inseminated. " " Queens can live for as long as five

years but

most commercial beekeepers replace them every two years " (Shimanuki & Sheppard,

181)

(and often yearly). Yes, " replace " is a euphemism for killing the old queen.

Backyard

beekeepers also regularly kill their queens. This is done for numerous reasons

that all boil

down to exerting control over the hive. For example, it is done to prevent

swarming,

aggression, mite infestation, and to keep honey production at a maximum. Queens

come

from commercial queen suppliers. The image is hundreds of queens with a few

nursing

bees in individual cages waiting to be flown around the country (Beekeeping).

Travel can

be rough on the queens; according to Mussen, a UC Extension

Apiculturist,

" Once at the post office or shipping depot, nearly anything can happen. Queens

can be

over heated, chilled, left out in the sun for hours (desiccated), banged around

in baggage

compartments, and exposed to insecticides. Often, the post office or shipping

hub fails to

contact the customer when the queens arrive and they may sit in storage for

days. It is

surprising that the queens come through as well as they do " (Mussen). Finally,

colonies

(hives) are routinely split in half according to what the keeper wants, not the

queen.

When manipulating the bees, most beekeepers use a smoker to maintain control and

to

prevent some stings. The smoke gets the bees to gorge themselves on honey, which

calms

them down. The smoke probably also masks the alarm pheromone that the guard bees

release and prevents the entire colony from becoming agitated.

During the fall and winter a mouse guard is often placed over the entrance to

the hive.

Usually, the bees drag their dead out of the hive, but the mouse guard often

prevents this

from happening. Beekeepers are warned, " it is helpful to remove any pileup of

dead bees

behind the mouse guard once or twice during the winter " (Bonney, 116).

Some bees even get to travel all around the country in trucks like the one

pictured below

or on larger flatbed trailers (Beekeeping). Beekeepers follow the nectar flows

to increase

honey production.

You may have the impression that since the bees are not fenced in like cattle,

they are free

to leave if they wanted to. Read about swarming to understand why this common

argument is false.

There often a lack of regard for the bees' lives. In the US, 10 to 20 percent of

colonies are

lost over the winter. It is partly by accident and partly on purpose. Some

beekeepers kill

off their hives before winter. This practice can make economic sense.

Unfortunately, it is

not the small backyard beekeeper, but rather the large, factory bee farmer, so a

lot of bees

are killed even if most beekeepers don't use the practice. Also, in the process

of checking

up on the hive and taking the honey, some bees get squashed by the frames or

stepped

on. Bees who sting the keeper in defense of their home necessarily die. If two

colonies are

combined, the queen of the weaker colony is killed. So that the honey can be

easily

removed from the comb, it is often warmed prior to removal. " Bees brought into

the

warming room with the supers will fly to a window where they can be trapped to

the

outside by a wire cone or bee escape. If there are no windows in the room other

methods

such as an electric grid can be used to dispose of the stray bees " (Root, 121

emphasis

added).

Stealing Honey

So what do the captives do with their time? In the words of the National Honey

Board,

" Honey is 'manufactured' in one of the world's most efficient factories, the

beehive. Bees

may travel as far as 55,000 miles and visit more than two million flowers to

gather enough

nectar to make just a pound of honey " (NHB). Bees gather pollen in sacs and

nectar from

the flowers. Honey is stored in the hive as winter food for the bees . Yes,

sometimes they

make more than they can eat, but do the beekeepers only take the extra? No,

according to

E. Tew, an Extension Specialist in Apiculture at Ohio State University in

Wooster,

" Commercial beekeepers frequently extract [steal] all fall-season honey and then

feed

colonies either sugar syrup or corn syrup in quantities great enough to provide

all the

winter food the bees would need " (Tew). (Everyone steals most of the

spring-season

honey.) Theft of all of the fall-season honey is merely the most blatant form of

exploitation. Bees are also often fed in the fall in preparation for winter and

in the spring

and early summer to ensure the hive gets off to a good start (Bonney, 131;

Vivian, 101).

That is, to make the bees start working earlier than they would normally. The

sugar that is

fed in the fall is turned into honey by the bees, so even if a beekeeper tells

you their bees

survive on honey over the winter, much of that honey may have simply come from

Ziplock

bags full of sugar water. A typical hive in the UK uses at least 8 kg (17.6

lbs.) of sugar per

year (Consumers in Europe Group, 21). In the US, a typical figure can be 25 lbs.

(So if by

chance you don't eat bone char processed cane sugar, but do eat honey, you're

not doing

a lot of good in terms of reducing the demand for sugar.) Some people claim the

sugar

water is better for the bees than honey, and if this is the case, I don't want

to hear any

claims about the health benefits of honey or pollen. Sugar water may be better

if the bees

had particularly poor nectar sources in the fall, but this would not normally be

a problem if

their spring honey hadn't been stolen. Honey is more than sugars; it contains

very small

(by human standards) amounts of fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals that bees'

bodies

might like to use over the winter.

Another thing to keep in mind is the history of beekeeping (Crane). Honeybees

are unique

in that they are not domesticated despite a very long relationship with humans.

For most

of human history, honey was gathered from wild hives. Beekeeping began only

10,000

years ago. Bees were kept in logs, baskets, and pots all lying horizontally to

the ground.

Bees were also kept in trees in forests and by hanging containers in trees.

Eventually in

Europe and Asia they turned the containers upright. The earliest recorded use of

hives

with moveable frames was in 1682 where top bar hives were used in Greece. In

nature,

bees build combs that hang from the roof of their dwelling and everything is

stationary . In

top bar hives, the bees build their combs on a wooden bar such that individual

combs can

be removed by pulling up individual bars. The combs retain their natural U shape

at the

bottom . These top bar hives were not very widespread. It was not until 1851

that the

modern Langstroth hive was invented (where else but in America). Here the combs

fill up

entire frames (like a window screen) and are rectangular. This makes hives

stackable and

since the frames are of universal size, they can be interchanged between hives

and

prepared by humans. Additionally, honey extraction equipment can be built due to

the

standard size. A queen excluder is generally used to keep the queen from laying

eggs in

the area where the beekeeper only wants honey stored. Additional frames can be

added as

necessary to allow for and encourage excess honey production. Needless to say,

the

Langstroth hive caught on very quickly and is the hive of choice today. New

technology is

on the horizon that allows even greater efficiency in extracting honey (Lomas).

So if a

beekeeper tells you that they are only continuing an ancient tradition, keep in

mind that

the practices they are using are only 100 years old and are radically different

from the

methods that existed for millennia. They also have nothing in common with

non-Western

beekeeping methods that emphasize humility, respect, and truly being part of

nature, as

opposed to managing nature for human gain.

Beekeepers will naturally deny that they are slave owners who steal the products

of the

bees' labor. They will tell you that they are working with the bees to help them

reach their

full potential, which just happens to be measured in honey output. (Hmm, remind

anyone

of recombinant bovine growth hormone?) In addition to being horribly

paternalistic, the

beekeeper's perspective makes little sense. Under natural conditions, if the

hive were

producing a surplus, they would divide into two colonies and there would be none

wasted.

Nonetheless, it is important to regard beekeepers as potential allies. They are

often more

aware of environmental concerns than other people and may truly care about their

bees. A

few simple changes in their attitudes would likely make their behavior

acceptable to

vegans, although making those changes is not a simple thing. They would need to

stop

regarding themselves as beeKEEPERS. They would also need to recognize that their

role is

largely temporary, as a stop gap measure until farmers get their act together

and facilitate

the growth of native pollinator populations. They should immediately switch to

top bar

hives, discourage surplus honey production and stop stealing honey. Otherwise,

there is

too much incentive to exploit the bees and the environment. Top bar hives are

less high

tech than Langstroth hives, result in less surplus honey, and the users

generally have a

different mindset (Satterfield; Caldeira). Keep these things in mind if you are

thinking

buying locally grown honey from a small apiary--although they are better than

large

commercial apiaries, they still may share many of the objectionable

philosophies. (How

much respect can you have for someone if you are taking advantage of her?)

Finally,

beekeeping varies due to the different environments in which it occurs.

Beekeepers are an

opinionated group (like vegans). Just because one beekeeper tells you that one

of the

practices I've described is crazy and something he would never do, doesn't mean

that

another beekeeper thinks he is crazy not to.

" Products " of the Hive

So how exactly is honey made? The bees swallow nectar into their crop,

regurgitate it, add

enzymes (spit), chew, swallow and repeat many times. Not a pretty picture, but

it does

make for a funny cartoon or two. Beekeepers get very defensive about this aspect

of

honey. One told me " Honey is not a regurgitant. Regurgitation is a digestive

process. " Ok,

well, whatever you call it they still swallow it and spit it back up. And they

do partially

digest it, so I don't see how it's not a digestive process. He went on to tell

me " If you have

a problem with nature's processes perhaps you should stay out of nature, " which

makes

me wonder why he has a problem with me pointing out nature's processes to

others. The

bottom line is that beekeepers get mad that I mention how honey is made, because

it's

something they'd rather you not think about. With one exception, this aspect of

honey

production is not used as a marketing tool. You can't even find out how honey is

made at

the National Honey Board's website!

Of course, honey is not the only product of bee exploitation. The following are

other bee

products to watch out for:

Bee venom is obtained when the bee stings someone or something. The bee dies if

she

stings someone.

Bee pollen is pollen collected by bees. It also contains some nectar and bee

saliva. It is

popular because humans cannot collect such a wide variety of pollen.

Royal jelly is the nutritious food (for bees) fed only to the queen. It

literally makes workers

into queens.

Beeswax is secreted by bees to build their hives.

Propolis is plant resin collected by bees and mixed with enzymes. It is used

around the

hive as glue and as an antiseptic.

Bee brood are bees that are not fully developed. Not even vegetarian.

You Can Make a Difference

The average American consumes 1.1 lb. (0.5 kg) of honey annually (National Honey

Board).

The average person in the UK consumes 0.3 kg (0.66 lb.) a year (Consumers in

Europe

Group, 21). Germans consume a whopping 4.3 kg (9.5 lb.) a year (Sue Bee). Honey

is the

main source of income for beekeepers (Hoff, 4). According to Hachiro Shimanuki

and

Walter Sheppard of the USDA Agricultural Research Service, " In recent years the

honey bee

industry in the United States has faced many difficult problems. Foreign honey

imports

and lower honey prices coupled with increased costs of production have created

considerable financial challenge. " However, they went on to say that

" Fortunately, the

demand for one of the direct products of the insect, honey, shows signs of

increasing " (Shimanuki & Sheppard, 184).

Just like the " meat " and " dairy " industries, the beekeeper's have their own

National Honey

Board designed to promote honey using a $3 million dollar budget. Unfortunately,

it

seems to be working. In addition to the hordes of mainstream products adding

honey, say

Grey Poupon Honey Mustard, Honey Wheaties, Hidden Valley Honey and Bacon French

Dressing, etc., honey dominates the health food market. The National Honey Board

is

currently on a campaign to increase honey consumption by about 20% in the next

four

years and one of their main strategies is the following: " Encourage the

widespread use of

honey in 'healthy lifestyles' by positioning honey as both a healthy food and as

an

ingredient in products with medicinal value " (NHB). " A shift in strategic focus

to position

honey as a 'healthy' product that should be used as an ingredient in foods and

medicines

aimed at health-conscious individuals " (NHB). Their use of the word " healthy " in

quotes

says it all--it's all a lie, it's just a marketing tool.

Do you think no one will notice if you eat honey? I assure you, they are

watching closely!

The National Honey Board newsletter always ends with a section listing new

products

containing honey. They even go so far as to monitor sales of honey products with

respect

to similar honey-free products. I strongly recommend viewing the National Honey

Board

Handbook (pdf) for a sampling of their work.

Of course it's not always enough to not eat something. Why not let companies

know you're

not buying their products because they have honey in them? This is a

particularly urgent

issue in the " health food " area since there are an increasing number of products

containing honey that would otherwise be vegan. You can email companies from the

feedback page.

Common Questions

Don't honeybees pollinate agricultural crops and are otherwise good for the

environment?

Actually, bees are harmful to the environment. That link also covers the

comparative

environmental impact of honey versus other sweeteners.

But don't you kill other bugs?

What about free range honey? If you want free range honey you would have to go

out into

the woods and stick your hand in a bees' hive and grab some for yourself. Of

course, you

probably won't find a colony because they've all been killed off (see the

environment

section). If you did find one, the theft would destroy their home and you'd get

some nice

stings. Unless of course, you are part of a culture that has a sustainable (i.e.

thousands of

years old) tradition of respectfully gathering honey like that found in the

Malaysian

rainforest where honey hunters climb 100 foot trees to take honey from the giant

Apis

dorsata (Buchmann & Nabham, 145).

But isn't honey (or pollen or royal jelly) good for you? Doesn't it prevent

allergies? Don't

bee stings cure MS? Isn't honey more nutritious than sugar? Check out the health

aspects

of honeybee products.

But what do I eat/wear/burn/floss with instead of honey and beeswax?

http://www.vegetus.org/honey/honey.htm