Honey, Bees, and Pollination
Context
The question of whether honey is vegan is frequently brought up by those new to or considering veganism. According to the most widely accepted definition of veganism, and the definition embraced by JFA, honey is implicitly proscribed. Veganism is "a way of living that seeks to exclude, as far as possible an practicable, all forms of exploitation of and cruelty to animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose."[1]
Considering the information presented below in the talking points, it would be hard to deny that bees are exploited and harmed when the honey they have made for themselves is taken from their hives for human consumption. In addition, honey provides no essential nutrients and can be easily avoided, satisfying the "possible and practicable" clause in the definition.
Advocacy
Less clear and more nuanced than the question of whether honey is vegan, is the degree of zeal and insistence we should convey when we respond to inquiries about honey. Discussions about honey should be done with an awareness that:
- insects rank low on society's hierarchy of concern for animals, and
- bees are used to pollinate some of the fruits and vegetables that we vegans eat.
In light of this awareness, one way to respond is as follows:
- State that most people who identify as vegan do not consume honey because it involves the exploitation of animals.
- Very briefly describe the ways in which bees are harmed (see below).
- Very briefly explain why commercial bees are not necessary for pollination, and may actually be harmful to sustainability (see below).
- Invite your interlocuter to research and decide for themselves, then mildly point out that if they still disagreed with your position on honey, it would be insincere and illogical to use that as a justification for eating other animal products.
Talking Points
- Studies have shown that bees feel pain.[2] [3] One study that did not conclude bees feel pain depended on injured bees choosing bitter-tasting morphine over sugar water, as if the bees had pharmacological knowledge that even a human would not have without a label.[4]
- Bees have cognitive abilities. Bees can be taught how to perform tasks that are foreign to their natural foraging behavior and can improve on the tasks they have learned by making generalizations. As one researcher put it, "The old-fashioned view is if an animal has a small brain, it’s not intelligent or smart...our study shows it’s not true that small brains are not capable of this kind of cognitive flexibility.”[5]
- A percentage bee's diet is replaced by 'sugar water lacking in the nutritional richness of their natural diet—honey, nector, and pollen—the bee's natural diet.[6]
Background Info on Bees and Honey
See Also
Footnotes
- ↑ “Definition of Veganism.” The Vegan Society. Accessed March 31, 2019. https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan/definition-veganism.
- ↑ Balderrama, N. et al. (biologists) (1987). Behavioral and Pharmacological Analysis of the Stinging Response in Africanized and Italian Bees. Neurobiology and Behavior of Honeybees. R. Menzel & A. Mercer (eds.). New York: Springer-Verlag.
- ↑ Núñez, J. A., Almeida L., Balderrama N. and Giurfa M. (1997). Alarm Pheromone Induces Stress Analgesia via an Opioid System in the Honeybee. Physiology & Behaviour 63 (1), 75-80
- ↑ Groening, Julia, Dustin Venini, and Mandyam V. Srinivasan. “In Search of Evidence for the Experience of Pain in Honeybees: A Self-Administration Study.” Scientific Reports 7 (April 4, 2017): 45825. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep45825..
- ↑ Loukola, Olli J., Clint J. Perry, Louie Coscos, and Lars Chittka. “Bumblebees Show Cognitive Flexibility by Improving on an Observed Complex Behavior.” Science 355, no. 6327 (February 24, 2017): 833–36. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aag2360.
- ↑ “Honey Bee Nutrition and Supplemental Feeding | Beesource Beekeeping.” Accessed March 31, 2019. https://beesource.com/resources/usda/honey-bee-nutrition-and-supplemental-feeding/
