please answer why dont vegans eat honey?
Image by lsasser
Jim Derby – A "Raising Bee" not a Bumble Bee. Raising a 1/5 scale model of a timber frame while discussing the raising sequence and framing details. The model is of an actual three-bay "English" barn with a common purlin roof system, a very common type of framing in Northern New England.
Question by claire_is_my_name: please answer why dont vegans eat honey?
I am a vegetarian and nearly a vegan and I have a friend who is a die hard vegan. one time I spread honey on a bagel and my friend scolded me for doing that because honey is an animal product. I dont understand this. yes, honey comes from bees but no harm at all is done to bees when honey is harvested. in fact isn’t it true that bees are very well taken care of by bee keepers who raise bees for honey. please someone explain why vegans dont eat honey? my friend’s explanation doesn’t satisfy me in not eating honey.
Feel free to answer in the comment section below
please answer why dont vegans eat honey?
Image by lsasser
Jim Derby – A "Raising Bee" not a Bumble Bee. Raising a 1/5 scale model of a timber frame while discussing the raising sequence and framing details. The model is of an actual three-bay "English" barn with a common purlin roof system, a very common type of framing in Northern New England.
Question by claire_is_my_name: please answer why dont vegans eat honey?
I am a vegetarian and nearly a vegan and I have a friend who is a die hard vegan. one time I spread honey on a bagel and my friend scolded me for doing that because honey is an animal product. I dont understand this. yes, honey comes from bees but no harm at all is done to bees when honey is harvested. in fact isn’t it true that bees are very well taken care of by bee keepers who raise bees for honey. please someone explain why vegans dont eat honey? my friend’s explanation doesn’t satisfy me in not eating honey.
What do you think? Answer below!
18 Responses to please answer why dont vegans eat honey?
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Hello.
I have a nephew who is vegan for 2 years now. Here’s some info for you from a web site. Hope it helps. http://www.vegetus.org/honey/honey.htm
Disney Fan
October 23, 2011 at 11:45 am
The honey is the bee’s food and is taken without their permission. It’s stealing and the bee’s are forced to labor for our benefit.
(I’m a vegetarian and love honey, but I understand the vegan’s reasoning.)
GeminiVirgo1971
October 23, 2011 at 11:53 am
Honey is an animal product just like milk is from cows. I hope this helps.
A.F.I for life
October 23, 2011 at 12:19 pm
For the same reason they don’t eat eggs or drink milk. It’s an animal byproduct.
Maria
October 23, 2011 at 1:13 pm
First of all, shame on your friend for scolding you about food choices. Just as she has the right to avoid animal products, you have the right to eat whatever the hell you want. Most vegans and vegetarians I know do eat honey.
Next time tell her to keep her opinions to herself.
Poopie Johnson
October 23, 2011 at 1:36 pm
This Is foolishness. My bees live the life of Riley. I give them preventive medics, supply the best housing they could ever dream of and fight their battles as best I am able,and subsidies them when times are rough for them. They OWE me the honey just like they do everyone who likes it!!!
question mark
October 23, 2011 at 2:04 pm
It’s just pure semantics. The definition of vegan is not eating anything from an animal and a bee is an animal. Yes, some bees get killed in the honey-harvesting process, but far more insects are killed in the harvesting of plants or just driving down the road for that matter.
You can tell your friend that honeybees would be nearly extinct if it weren’t for beekeepers who immunize their hives against the varroa mite, which decimated the wild populations years ago. If I weren’t allergic I’d be eating it right along with you. It’s supposed to be quite healthy. Your friend shouldn’t be scolding you for your choices.
= ^_^ =
October 23, 2011 at 2:29 pm
In any group there is extremists. To her there is no differnce between eating honey or drinking milk which does not harm the animal and if you were chomping down a piece of veal while wearing a Michal Vick leather jacket.
me
October 23, 2011 at 3:07 pm
To set your friend straight Bees are not animals they are an insects. I don’t understand Vegans so I can’t answer this question for you but I just wanted to set the record straight that bees are insects. Good luck!
LoraBaby
October 23, 2011 at 3:16 pm
I do not eat honey because, to me, veganism is about more than not killing animals. I do not wish to be a part of any business venture that involves the “use” of animals.
Whether or not bees are harmed by or feel pain because of the honey-procuring process is a matter of debate. For me, it doesn’t matter. They are still being kept in an unnatural state. Bees were not meant to live in captivity any more than cows, chickens, or whales. For any beekeepers on here, I am not suggesting you would treat the bees with anything other than respect or even love, but it is an inherently unnatural situation.
My definition for veganism (which is not necessarily everyone’s) is that I try to avoid, as much as possible, having animals: killed; tortured; degraded; bred; perform; held in captivity; eaten or anything else for the benefit of humans. Bees have just as much right to live where they want as we do.
smtrautman
October 23, 2011 at 4:14 pm
i doubt that you are.
see, honey comes from an creature. thus creatures to enable any product for mass production have to be induced with hormones, chemicals to make that possible. which most times is considered cruel and unhealthy over all for the provider and consumer.
thus honey comes from bees who are stimulated to produce more than what is natural for them in an enviroment that is not healthy and thus.. it’s cruel in some way i’m sure.
no, seriously… you should see what those mass producers do to get the most for their money…
it’s not healthy.
even for the insect… seems silly but it’s also not good. i’m sure we get a lot of dead bees because of this proceedure. unclean conditions and honey that is from a stimulated creature by the use of chemistry.
this happens to all things even vegetables.
no real good solution for any of it if you ask me.
here’s a link.. one of many about honey..
http://www.vnv.org.au/Articles/Honey.htm
LJ
October 23, 2011 at 4:22 pm
First of all djanonymousclow, you’re an idiot. No one claims that vegans are 100% perfect, it’s not possible living in a society that exploits animals for pretty much anything they can be used for. But does that mean we should make the wrong choice even when we have alternatives? I HAVE to get on a bus, I HAVE to eat vegetables, but I dont HAVE to kill to live. I dont need meat to survive. I’m not perfect, vegans are not perfect, but at least we are trying to do the right thing. And what are you doing? Criticising us even though you have nothing better to offer? What right do you have to judge vegans? At least we’re trying!
Now back to the original question, this has been answered many times. Maybe you should search for threads, there are some really good answers in the past concerning the bees and honey.
But to sum it up, exploitation of animals doesnt always include slaughter. Maybe you should ask yourself what right we humans have to consume honey, which is made by the bees for the bees? We dont know exactly how much the bees suffer, but the truth is beekeepers dont care about individual bees. For them the bees are just like cows for farmers, if not less. They are used for a purpose, which is profit for humans. I cant be that arrogant as to think that the bees exist just for me.
Look it up in any encyclopedia, these are intelligent living creatures with an amazing social scructure. They collect nectar, and turn it into their food source: honey. Now where do humans fit in here? No where. Honey is easiest to avoid, of all animal products. This shouldnt even be an issue.
If you still want to consume it, fine, but please dont call yourself a vegan. Vegans dont use animal products, whether it makes sense to you or not.
Like I said, this was already answered many times, look for it!
UPDATE; Here are two links for you:
Why honey is not vegan: http://www.vegetus.org/honey/honey.htm
Bee breeding and “instrumental insamination: http://www174.pair.com/birdland/Breeding/
@Meg, I wouldnt call exploitation “a silly argument”. And you wouldnt either if you were the one being exploited. But hey, if you hate the concept of veganism, what exactly are you doing here?
UPDATE 2 @djanonymousclow,. I cant walk to work, it’s too far, it would take me over 4 hours. I cant walk to another city to visit my family. I live in a flat and don’t have enough money to buy a house with a big garden. If I ever do I will, trust me. But right now, I will stick to veggies from a store, organic whenever available. Comparing to options (eating meat and dairy) THIS is the best one. I don’t wear leather or eat meat because I don’t HAVE to do these things. Do you? But plz answer, how come you’re criticizing me, when you’re not avoiding all these “bad” things I do? Are you doing anything at all to make your existance less damaging for this planet? I just don’t quite understand how you can criticize someone who does their best? Environmental benefits of veganism are obvious, even if you don’t care much about animals, so tell me, why shouldn’t I be a vegan?
update 3, Well calling me a moron doesnt make you look like a genius. Youre still failing to answer how are you helping with your meat eating? Here is something for you about animal agriculture and global warming.
http://www.earthsave.org/globalwarming.htm
There are many facts in my blog, I cant type all that stuff here, so have a look, With references of course. http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-vM42cn0webVJ5kvi3Rz9aYoAnPwEM9Vg?p=275
With animal agriculture we have to cut MORE forest, and produce MORE grains to feed all these animals that naturally wouldnt exist. You see farm animals have to eat too. It’s all very simple.
This is my last entry here, I cant keep updating this. If you have more questions contact me via email or blog.
vegan.rock.candy
October 23, 2011 at 4:59 pm
Well allegedly vegans don’t eat any byproducts produced by animals, like milk from cows and of course like honey from bees. It has something to do with “exploitation” of animals which is a silly argument.
You are correct. Beekeepers are take excellent care of thier hives. The strict vegans would say bees are “killed” in the process of collecting the honey and other activities of working on the hives.
Continue to eat honey and find yourself a friend that won’t scold you for your choices. You don’t need those kinds of “friends”. Probably a “non-vegan” would be a better choice as most of them are a bit squirrely.
Meg
October 23, 2011 at 5:11 pm
the little bees slave to make the honey for their queens and colonies and humans take it away. i guess if the beekeeper knows about bees and knows when to take honey without completely wiping out the bees’ stash or whatever, i guess its okay. but some vegans just don’t think its right. i mean the bees aren’t directly abused for it, like cows/goats/etc. for milk and cheese.
Me Again
October 23, 2011 at 5:51 pm
some vegans do and some don’t. honey is the undecided product. it depends on your view of bees and honey.
☺Bojanglesvegan☺
October 23, 2011 at 6:33 pm
They are soooo mean to the bees!
Lala
October 23, 2011 at 6:51 pm
When you pull out the bees some die and the same when you slide them back in and the fact it comes from BEES…..
Reiss Manzie
October 23, 2011 at 7:15 pm
Because bees do *inadvertantly* get killed during the process.
Janet G
October 23, 2011 at 7:39 pm