Veganism and honey

blatantrereg

For people who identify as vegan, do you exclude honey from your diet?

It is food from an animal and all, but I was surprised to see it excluded by organisations like the Vegan Society.

blatantrereg

blatantrereg wrote: »

For people who identify as vegan, do you exclude honey from your diet?

It is food from an animal and all, but I was surprised to see it excluded by organisations like the Vegan Society.

Because bees are insects?

Markcheese

Why stick a label on yourself, if u like most of the vegan lifestyle but want to eat honey and wear silk PJs then go for it....
If the vegan society decided you should hop on one leg to wear out less hemp based shoes would you....
Anyhow wild or feral ( unfarmed) bees have pretty much died out in Ireland so if people don't use bee products they'll be extinct in this country ...

blatantrereg

Moonbaby wrote: »

Because bees are insects?

Probably. It just never occurred to me that vegans wouldn't eat honey really.

Markcheese wrote: »

Why stick a label on yourself, if u like most of the vegan lifestyle but want to eat honey and wear silk PJs then go for it....
If the vegan society decided you should hop on one leg to wear out less hemp based shoes would you....
Anyhow wild or feral ( unfarmed) bees have pretty much died out in Ireland so if people don't use bee products they'll be extinct in this country ...

I agree with you about deciding things for yourself alright. [I'm not a vegan incidentally; I've just been reading about it, with a view to reducing/eliminating dairy consumption]. I was just surprised by the honey thing like I said.

I was interested by what you said about unfarmed bees dying out in Ireland. This article suggests they are actually faring pretty well, though it suggests such a phenomenon is occurring in many countries. According to wikipedia, there's been a >50% decrease in Northern Ireland. If both those statements are correct then it's very interesting what is causing that differnence I think. I'd speculate it is related to differences in agricultural practices.

Tar.Aldarion

blatantrereg wrote: »

For people who identify as vegan, do you exclude honey from your diet?

It is food from an animal and all, but I was surprised to see it excluded by organisations like the Vegan Society.

I haven't met one that doesn't exclude it, as the bees would die in the process, maybe accidental, don't they? I'm not sure. You can oft get bees in some types of honey, even full bees! Might be the type of farming involved changes casualties. Then again, the same thing happens for harvesting vegetables, making sugar etc, you could never eat out and so on. I suppose it is also the slavery aspect. A lot of vegans would use honey, a lot wouldn't suppose it comes down to their varying beliefs.

the beer revolu

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

I suppose it is also the slavery aspect.

A bit like keeping pets, then?

How does the average vegan feel about keeping pets - neutering and euthanasia, confinement, control of feeding and other slave-like conditions ?

Tar.Aldarion

Well I can't speak for the average anything, as I have no idea, but I know a lot are against it in general. I note a lot keep pets simply because they have been domesticated by humans already and it is better to save something from dying in a shelter/the wild, feeling they have a responsibility to look after something that humans messed up. I certainly couldn't see them supporting breeders. I don;t know about neutering and so forth, imagine theya re against it but a lot of the time that saves animals like rabbits etc from dying of cancer and such? So i don't really know what they do. As I said, I don't really know the stance of most, and it is skewed by crazy organisations like PETA who put animals down and so on.

Markcheese

blatantrereg wrote: »

Moonbaby wrote: »

Because bees are insects?

Probably. It just never occurred to me that vegans wouldn't eat honey really.

Markcheese wrote: »

Why stick a label on yourself, if u like most of the vegan lifestyle but want to eat honey and wear silk PJs then go for it....
If the vegan society decided you should hop on one leg to wear out less hemp based shoes would you....
Anyhow wild or feral ( unfarmed) bees have pretty much died out in Ireland so if people don't use bee products they'll be extinct in this country ...

I agree with you about deciding things for yourself alright. [I'm not a vegan incidentally; I've just been reading about it, with a view to reducing/eliminating dairy consumption]. I was just surprised by the honey thing like I said.

"I was interested by what you said about unfarmed bees dying out in Ireland. This article suggests they are actually faring pretty well, though it suggests such a phenomenon is occurring in many countries. According to wikipedia, there's been a >50% decrease in Northern Ireland. If both those statements are correct then it's very interesting what is causing that differnence I think. I'd speculate it is related to differences in agricultural practices.

I hope you're right about the bee population being fine south of the border"do the British army still have no fly zones on border"
Wouldn't have thought there was a major change in ag practice south of border , anecdotaly any body bee keeper d I know in cork ( only a few) says wild bees are very rare, a lot of commercial hives are struggling too....

pawrick

I never knew bees were harmed in the making of honey - I'd imagine that's counter productive to the bee keeper unless it's the accidental few which get squashed/swatted when in the way.

On the decline - I've read that there has been an illness affecting hives which has been killing them off, they were still trying to figure out the reason behind it last time I was reading about it but some things which came up were that their immune systems could be depleted possibly from contamination caused by chemicals used in farming crops and/or less variety of flowers to get nector from in the wild. I' sure there is plenty of info out there about this.

Tar.Aldarion

Yes I imagine they do their best to keep their stock alive! So I don't really know, some certainly end up in honey. probably accidental as you say.

Markcheese

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Yes I imagine they do their best to keep their stock alive! So I don't really know, some certainly end up in honey. probably accidental as you say.

You definitely do not kill bees to make honey..but the lifespan of a worker bee during summer is short...think lots of flowers long days so lots to do.... Shouldn't get too many bees in yr honey...I wouldn't "bee" too keen on it..

Markcheese

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Yes I imagine they do their best to keep their stock alive! So I don't really know, some certainly end up in honey. probably accidental as you say.

You definitely do not kill bees to make honey..but the lifespan of a worker bee during summer is short...think lots of flowers long days so lots to do.... Shouldn't get too many bees in yr honey...I wouldn't "bee" too keen on it..