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the honey industry harms bees & the environment
a thread:
a thread:
as a vegan, i hear it all the time: “why don’t vegans eat honey???” or, even worse, “eating honey helps bees!” which is patently false. if you really wanted to save our bees past a trendy social media bio, you’d stop consuming honey.
it is a common misconception that bee farmers only take so-called “surplus” honey- honey the bees produced in excess and don’t need. this may be true for some small, local beehives, but it could not be farther from the truth in the grand scheme of honey production.
so, in this thread, i will dive deep into why BOTH industrial & local bee farms contribute to the same problem. i cannot stress enough that local farms are not harmless. and it’s obvious that most people do not get their honey from local farms, anyway.
let’s start with commercialized honey. this is any honey you get from the grocery store. this is the honey in your granola bars & graham crackers. this is the honey in your chapstick & beauty products.
the bees in industrial farms are treated horrifically. queen bees have their wings clipped to prevent them from moving. they are also artificially inseminated, over & over, similar to how cows are treated. http://www.glenn-apiaries.com/bee_photos_15.html
they take *all* of their honey, replacing their nourishment with an artificial syrup that fails to meet their nutrient needs. https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-04/honey-could-boost-bees-own-immunity-so-maybe-we-shouldnt-take-all-it-them/
sometimes, beekeepers will kill the entire hive after they reap their honey from them. this is anywhere from 20,000 to 80,000 bees.
okay, now on to local honey. this is the honey you would get if you actually visited a local beehive.
these hives usually have a more ethical treatment of bees, but they are still exploiting the bees for profit. or they’re just misinformed and think keeping these hives actually helps them - although honey bees are not endangered in the first place. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3450210
this is part of the problem. with so much focus on keeping honey bees alive (because we’re selfish and only care when they provide use for humans) we are causing even more decline in other pollinators - the ones that are actually endangered. the ones we actually need.
honey bees are not effective pollinators. having a hive for honeybees serves only those who selfishly profit off of exploitation. https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2011/10/native-bees-are-better-pollinators-honeybees
having local beehives harms the pollinators we actually need. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140219133335.htm
remember, honey is *just* a sweetener. it is completely unnecessary to consume. some people act like it has magical health benefits, but it’s nothing worth harming our pollinators. we rely on pollinators & we need to leave them alone to ensure our survival.
if you’re looking for something to replace the sweetness of honey, try syrups made from maple, dates, or agave. if you’re feeling sick, the abundance of antioxidants and vitamin c in fruits & vegetables will serve you just fine.
we have no right to manipulate nature in the ways that we do. it takes one bee’s entire lifetime to produce a teaspoon of honey. it is not ours to take.
