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From bee to hive to jar, there’s a lot of buzz around honey in vegan diets. According to the definition, “a vegan is someone who consumes no food that comes from animals and abstains from using animal products.” That means none of that sweet, sweet honey bees work so hard to regurgitate to their colony. Recently, however, local beekeepers have started sharing their thoughts online in an attempt to convince vegans to include honey in their diet. Sure, one can say they have their own interests, but it’s hard to argue with the arguments they’re listing. Continue scrolling to check ’em out and tell us what you think in the comments.
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Image credits: David Goehring
Image credits: COD Newsroom
Other beekeepers responded as well:
Image credits: Artur Rydzewski
Image credits: Roberta Tavernati
People had a lot to say about this subject
What do you think ?
Daria B 7 years ago (edited)
Whether or not this were directed to vegans (which it is), it's a very informative article where you can learn more about nature, how honey is being made and about the related profession all at once. This is good.
Wiggity 7 years ago
A slightly off-topic honey funny: My local coffee shop uses local honey as one of the available sweetener options, but it is on the counter in a squeeze bottle labeled "BEE VOMIT".
Night Owl 7 years ago (edited)
😂(technically, they're right) Thanks for sharing
Load More Replies...
Carol Emory 7 years ago
My husband is vegan, but he considers honey to be a vegan food. He enjoys it and we use it as a substitute sweetener for coffee and tea since refined white sugar is filtered through cow bone char. Honey can also boost your immune system. My uncles neighbor kept bees so I know how the honey is harvested. And todays artificial hives are actually designed in such a way to make sure bees don't get squished. https://money.cnn.com/2015/03/11/smallbusiness/bees-flow-hive-fundraising/
Aunt Messy 7 years ago
You can buy vegan sugar. However. Sugar filtered through charcoal (FIFY) made from cow bones is actually greener than burning massive amounts of wood to make charcoal that can only be used once. You might want to look at the environmental costs of some of the so-called "healthy" things you demand when you're a vegan.
Load More Replies...
Teddy O'Malley 7 years ago
As a vegetarian, I have to say that a vegan who eats honey is nothing like a vegetarian who eats chicken. The whole point of going vegetarian/vegan is reducing your impact and watch what's going into your body.
Load More Replies...
Lisa Barnes 7 years ago
A couple of years ago, I pulled into my driveway just before dark and lo and behold a giant gathering of bees were hanging off of one of my plum tree's, one of my neighbors came over and offered to spray it with wasp spray, apalled I told them absolutely not, I called the local sheriffs office and got a number for a beekeeper who told me he'd be there first thing in the morning, which he was! It was one of the most interesting things I have ever been graced to see! He explained what he was doing while waiting for the stragglers, as he found the queen and the rest of the hive followed her into the hive box he had brought. He brought me a quart of honey from that hive at the end of summer and it was wonderful. I'm a vegetarian and have no problem eating honey, its so much better for you than any other sweetener. Please support your local beekeepers, they keep our little pollinaters healthy and happy!
Jace 7 years ago
Honey is not particularly nutritious. It’s lovely though.
Load More Replies...
Kiki 7 years ago
And the water you drink has been dinosaur pee at one point.
Load More Replies...
Maria Aradia 7 years ago
I eat a plant-based diet though I do not call myself vegan. There are some majorly good points here. One of the main ones is that the vegan diet could not exist if someone wasn't raising bees. Also, bees need 100 pounds of honey per hive to make it through the Winter yet produce twice that. The beekeeper says he only took 50 pounds leaving them 150 pounds which is way more than the 100 they need for Winter. Also, beekeepers take great care of their bees to ensure their survival and make certain none die or are harmed in any way. I support beekeepers and may take up beekeeping myself in order to better pollinate my garden. I do see that some aspects of the vegan philosophy may not be totally thought out.
Naima Ivansdóttir 7 years ago
thank you for sharing this, intresting article. i know that many vegans can be pretty dense, but i do find this information very helpful for whoever likes to keep their minds open. i have been following a vegan diet for the last 5 years and i know i'm not supposed to eat honey but i give a heck about what i'm supposed to do. the only restriction i like to apply to honey is, i only buy from local beekepers (there's plenty where i live) as i'd rather avoid industrial production and distribution.
Bunzilla 7 years ago
There's no hard and fast 'rules' to being either a vegetarian or being a vegan. You do you. :)
Load More Replies...
Hamptonville Honey Bees 7 years ago
I am a beekeeper. The pesticides used on 56 food crops in the US are killing way more honey bees then the beekeeper in day to day management including robbing honey from the hive. Yes the term is robbing, sounds bad, not so much. The pesticides I am talking about are neonictinoids. They have been banded in most of the UK. We still use them in the US. The noenictinoids are killing more bees and they are a major part of the problem and something we can do something about. Let your state and fed reps know how you feel. Eat honey, enjoy honey, work on better ways to help, not harm, the honey bees.
Daria B 7 years ago (edited)
Whether or not this were directed to vegans (which it is), it's a very informative article where you can learn more about nature, how honey is being made and about the related profession all at once. This is good.
Wiggity 7 years ago
A slightly off-topic honey funny: My local coffee shop uses local honey as one of the available sweetener options, but it is on the counter in a squeeze bottle labeled "BEE VOMIT".
Night Owl 7 years ago (edited)
😂(technically, they're right) Thanks for sharing
Load More Replies... Carol Emory 7 years ago
My husband is vegan, but he considers honey to be a vegan food. He enjoys it and we use it as a substitute sweetener for coffee and tea since refined white sugar is filtered through cow bone char. Honey can also boost your immune system. My uncles neighbor kept bees so I know how the honey is harvested. And todays artificial hives are actually designed in such a way to make sure bees don't get squished. https://money.cnn.com/2015/03/11/smallbusiness/bees-flow-hive-fundraising/
Aunt Messy 7 years ago
You can buy vegan sugar. However. Sugar filtered through charcoal (FIFY) made from cow bones is actually greener than burning massive amounts of wood to make charcoal that can only be used once. You might want to look at the environmental costs of some of the so-called "healthy" things you demand when you're a vegan.
Load More Replies... Teddy O'Malley 7 years ago
As a vegetarian, I have to say that a vegan who eats honey is nothing like a vegetarian who eats chicken. The whole point of going vegetarian/vegan is reducing your impact and watch what's going into your body.
Load More Replies... Lisa Barnes 7 years ago
A couple of years ago, I pulled into my driveway just before dark and lo and behold a giant gathering of bees were hanging off of one of my plum tree's, one of my neighbors came over and offered to spray it with wasp spray, apalled I told them absolutely not, I called the local sheriffs office and got a number for a beekeeper who told me he'd be there first thing in the morning, which he was! It was one of the most interesting things I have ever been graced to see! He explained what he was doing while waiting for the stragglers, as he found the queen and the rest of the hive followed her into the hive box he had brought. He brought me a quart of honey from that hive at the end of summer and it was wonderful. I'm a vegetarian and have no problem eating honey, its so much better for you than any other sweetener. Please support your local beekeepers, they keep our little pollinaters healthy and happy!
Jace 7 years ago
Honey is not particularly nutritious. It’s lovely though.
Load More Replies... Kiki 7 years ago
And the water you drink has been dinosaur pee at one point.
Load More Replies... Maria Aradia 7 years ago
I eat a plant-based diet though I do not call myself vegan. There are some majorly good points here. One of the main ones is that the vegan diet could not exist if someone wasn't raising bees. Also, bees need 100 pounds of honey per hive to make it through the Winter yet produce twice that. The beekeeper says he only took 50 pounds leaving them 150 pounds which is way more than the 100 they need for Winter. Also, beekeepers take great care of their bees to ensure their survival and make certain none die or are harmed in any way. I support beekeepers and may take up beekeeping myself in order to better pollinate my garden. I do see that some aspects of the vegan philosophy may not be totally thought out.
Naima Ivansdóttir 7 years ago
thank you for sharing this, intresting article. i know that many vegans can be pretty dense, but i do find this information very helpful for whoever likes to keep their minds open. i have been following a vegan diet for the last 5 years and i know i'm not supposed to eat honey but i give a heck about what i'm supposed to do. the only restriction i like to apply to honey is, i only buy from local beekepers (there's plenty where i live) as i'd rather avoid industrial production and distribution.
Bunzilla 7 years ago
There's no hard and fast 'rules' to being either a vegetarian or being a vegan. You do you. :)
Load More Replies... Hamptonville Honey Bees 7 years ago
I am a beekeeper. The pesticides used on 56 food crops in the US are killing way more honey bees then the beekeeper in day to day management including robbing honey from the hive. Yes the term is robbing, sounds bad, not so much. The pesticides I am talking about are neonictinoids. They have been banded in most of the UK. We still use them in the US. The noenictinoids are killing more bees and they are a major part of the problem and something we can do something about. Let your state and fed reps know how you feel. Eat honey, enjoy honey, work on better ways to help, not harm, the honey bees.
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