Is honey vegan?

[ambermum]

I mentioned this in a reply to another thread but wanted to put it out there for people who know to help me with this question. I'd always considered honey to be non-vegan but read on another website last night that it is a product bees make from flower pollen but is itself not comprised of any part of the bee. I have no problem with a bee's natural creation, but would like clarification as to whether ot not honey is vegan? And what about products with beeswax? I'm all confused now!

I'd be grateful for any opinions!

Thanks,
Lyn

[Framboise]

Some people say that honey is vegan.

Others say it is not vegan.

You're going to have to make up your own mind about this.

Some vegans are not interested in animal rights. Those who are will never eat honey. If you care about bees, you will not eat honey. If you do not care about bees and exploiting them to satisfy your gourmandise, then you will probably not mind eating the stuff. (Some people refer to honey as bees' vomit which is not really so far from the truth.)

It depends on what level you accept that animal exploitation is okay and whether it is ethical to steal the bees products which they do not make for humans, but for their own community.

[sport]

Honey is not vegan but not all raw eaters are vegan and some flexability is allowed.
I am on one extreme end of the scale and would even venture to suggest (and have suggested) that mushrooms are not vegan but that is an entire other argument.

[sport]

Some people say that honey is vegan.

.

I say, "If honey can be deemed to be vegan then why can you not say the same of milk and nobody would suggest that milk is vegan".

[Framboise]

sport: You are right. Milk is after all is something that comes out of a cow's udder, just as honey comes out of a bees' mouth. Honey is actually "milk" for a bee, because that is what they feed themselves with.

The beekeepers encourage an overproduction of honey (i.e. unnaturally), just as cow "farmers" encourage an overproduction of milk in their milking cows.

I personally find it pretty mean to go and steal food from bees. When you know that each time a bee stings you, it dies, and that bees DO sting the beekeepers (although he/she is protected) to prevent him/her from stealing the honey, it is CLEAR that they do not WANT to give us their honey. They DIE through this process.

I have a t-shirt that reads "Until all cages are free". I think I need one which reads "Until all beehives are left alone."

[ambermum]

Wow, that's certainly a lot of food for thought--thanks!

[Judy]

Lyn, I already posted an answer to your question (and links) in another thread:

http://www.30dayrawchallenge.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19235

[sweetgoddess]

You can just replace the honey with agave nectar! It is delicious!!

You can find it at www.alissacohen.com (http://www.alissacohen.com)

[DavidZaneMason]

Ha! ha! If you think those bees are just handing over their honey.......you are...uhhh...not right! I'm sure there are many killed or maimed in the process - despite best efforts. Besides - it is slavery for the bees! Don't you think?

-Just my opinions.

-David Mason

[mud]

O.o


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