Tag: honey

Hi, vegan here. I just saw your post about eating honey and was wondering if you could explain? At first I just took it out of my diet cause it wasn’t that big of a deal for me, and then there’s always the people yelling how it’s stealing their food so I just went along with it since I didn’t care for it anyways. However, as of lately I need to add more carbs/sugar into my diet and was considering using honey since it’s natural. Pls help.

zoologicallyobsessed:

Hi there. Could you specify on what extactly you’d like explained about bees + honey? 

Long story short, bees in good conditions will make honey until their hive is so full of it they have no place to lay eggs. Beekeepers always leave the bees with enough honey to more than survive, and, if something happens to a hive, will give the bees plenty of easy food to be sure they don’t go hungry.

Removing the frames to get the honey out does inadvertently squish some of the bees, but removing the frames regularly is necessary anyway to check for disease that could wipe out the colony. 

Bees at honey farms have perfectly designed hives, are provided with access to unlimited food, are almost 100% guaranteed to be safe from predators, and will be treated if the colony gets sick. All the keepers take in return is some of the food that the bees would otherwise crowd themselves out with. Being kept for honey is good for bees, assuming it’s a responsible keeper. 

Please support your local beekeepers. Honey is good for you, and local honey is just about guaranteed to come from a humane source, unlike sugarcane and agave. Plus, honey can teach your immune system to not be allergic to the flowers that it was made from! 

rainnecassidy:

congenitalprogramming:

cotestuck:

montypla:

meloromantics:

appropriately-inappropriate:

audreyvhorne:

sttinkerbelle:

vmpolung:

knowledgeandlove:

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#and I just don’t feel entitled to someone else’s life’s work.

That comment exactly!! It’s not mine and I can survive without it, so I will.

This is why honey is not vegan.

The problem here is that honey, especially if you buy it ethically from an apiarist, isn’t actually detrimental to the well-being of the bee or the hive. In the wild, honey is used as a food stock, but in a domesticated honeybee colony, the bees are fed quite well, and so the honey is a surplus.

The alternatives, like sugar, relies on monocrops in third world countries, with transient labour. Growing up, there was a sugarcane field by my house, and I’m sure the Haitian men who worked backbreaking hours hacking a machete through knife-bladed leaves in 40 degree heat for a couple dollars a day would have traded a testicle to be a Canadian honeybee. Stevia’s going the same way, iirc.

Additionally, apiarists are actually huge proponents and activists for sustainable bee-keeping, and it’s estimated that the domesticated hive may be the last great hope for declining populations, because we can optimize their chances for survival.

It’s their life’s work, sure, but it’s not the death of them to use it responsibly.

literally read anything about the history of sugarcane and the cuban sugar industry if you think sugar is or ever has been more ethical than honey

Beekeepers-

  • Provide a home for the bees
  • Keep that home warm in the winter
  • Keep the bees well fed, negating the need for honey, which the bees would make anyways
  • Still do not take all the honey, just in case
  • Protect the bees from predators
  • Monitor the hives for any signs of the parasites, diseases, etc. that cause colony collapse disorder

Their bees-

  • Provide a valuable and reliable source of pollination for plants in the area, both wild and crops
  • Help keep the local ecosystem healthy

Honey-

  • Is one of the healthiest things you can eat
  • Is able to keep for a EXTREMELY long time (Millennia even), making it more valuable than many perishable foods without being full of preservatives
  • Can be used to soothe sore throats, nauseau, etc.
  • Has been eaten by humans since at least Ancient Egypt (We’ve found STILL EDIBLE honey in tombs)
  • Is a great tool in cooking, adding sweetness without raising the sugar content much
  • Is a staple food in many people’s diets

Honey is amazing you can put it on or in pretty much everything I goddamn love it and you should too.

Honey is also a natural antimicrobial that has been used medicinally since time out of mind on external wounds like edible neosporin.

Particularly useful in the treatment of dermal abcesses.

“oh no we steal it from the bees!”

*has no problem benefiting from exploited migrant farm workers*

^^^