Honey?

Someone asking me about honey. They know beekeepers and say they have “very happy bees” so questioning the *use* of honey and why vegans don’t use it. This is a worthy conversation, especially in light of this particular subject. Vegans are aware bees are struggling. We are aware of the critical necessity of bees in our food supply. We could talk all day about colony collapse, the trucking of agricultural bees, industrial honey production, but backyard bees…?

Here’s my take…I see it like I view cats and dogs. We have put these species in a terrible predicament with our ignorance. With bees it is our ignorance of food, chemical additives, and the overall Big Ag system that is killing all of us and the planet we live on. If our motivation is to try and restore balance, to provide shelter and be safe/protected...for example, my husband and I did place a (as yet unoccupied) hive in our backyard if anyone wants shelter. We will not be bothering them if they do. Their honey is not ours and we will not be taking any.

Same as my companion animals. I am providing them safety. I am providing them guardianship. Humans have created a huge problem with our companion animals and having pets in my home is simply a way of protecting and saving as many of them as I possibly can. They are dependent on us and millions are carelessly tossed into a garbage can every year due to human selfishness, ego, and ignorance.

But my companion animals are NOT mine. I do NOT own them. I am their guardian. I am often their rescuer from sure death, but I am NOT their *owner*. I do NOT own them.

If our motivation is self-serving…if we view any sentient creature as being ours to *use* as we see fit, if we seek profits, or personal gain from their lives, if we dictate their lives, if we view them as property - all definitions of exploitation and enslavement. Even a small bee is a unique individual. There will never be another one exactly like that one. That little being lives a life separate from mine, is not mine, and does not belong to me. I prefer to live my life as a guardian and protector over being a violent dominator or self-serving exploiter.

I would not intentionally harm or interfere with another sentient life in any way other than to help them when able. In the world vegans aspire to have, bees would not need our help and we would leave them the hell alone to do their critical work for our Earth.

It’s about exploitation. It’s about slavery. It’s about the humongous human ego and erroneous thinking of superiority. It about simple morals – not *using* others when there are other options. Caring for nature so that these wonderful critters DO NOT NEED our help. It is silly and contradictory to state a desire to help bees if you are not vegan, because one nonvegan lunch further devastates our planet and therefore, continues to devastate the bees.

The more optimal way to approach this issue would be to nourish Earth so they can live. We are not more important than anyone else. If you desire to help the world (including ALL species on it) then you should go vegan immediately. The FACT is, the bees would be doing fine if people were vegan.

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(PHOTO taken in our backyard garden, logo is our garden page. We love bees! We want to care for the planet and all species on it, so we live vegan. Best way to help bees: plant nectar flowers, don’t use pesticides, and go vegan immediately.)
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