The ethics of honey

Hi all, Harry here. I live in Australia and ride mountain bikes and my real name is Mick but that handle was taken. I was vegetarian for years but became vegan about 6 months ago after a mate sent me a copy of The Rave Diet to read, which simply put is a vegan diet and no processed foods. I thought I'd give it a go for a few months and see how it felt and now there's no going back. I can't believe how good I feel physically and how balanced I am spiritually and emotionally. Feels like a cool mountain stream flowing through my body. I also want to live a moral and ethical life. My son who's a vegetarian recently asked if I had any ethical concerns with the use of honey, as vegans don't eat honey. This was new to me and so I did some research on the web. It would seem that the objection some vegans have with honey is the exploitation of the honey bees. 2 points I'd like to make, the first being that I reckon if there's any exploitation going on then it's more likely to be the bees exploiting us. The second and more relevant point and one I haven't heard discussed, although I'm sure it has, is that that man and honey bee have a somewhat evolving symbiotic relationship. There is some conjecture about whether Einstein really did say that without honey bees the human race would fail in about 4 years, but the point is still valid. Honey bees are the biggest pollinator of the foods we vegans eat (and the rest of us) and without them we would be in deep trouble because without pollination there is just no food..

Hi Harry, and welcome!

I changed your account type to "Not Currently a Vegan". No vegans use honey - it's not even a topic that's 'up for discussion', because that discussion ended at the same time as the definition of 'vegan' was made - by thos who invented the word vegan. and we already have a couple of threads explaining this already

Bees are certainly needed, but humans don't need to use honey. Einstein never claimed that humans needed or should use honey.


Please have a look at these threads:

Why don't vegans use honey?

Vegans don't use honey


Here's vegansociety.com's PDF on honey:
Honey ain't so sweet for the bees.

Hi Harry, nice to 'meet' you :) I felt great after going vegan too - it was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

The links that Korn has given are really good for explaining why vegans don't use honey. When I first became vegan, I didn't realise either for a few weeks (though by coincidence I didn't actually use any honey during that time anyway) but once I'd come across it as an issue and read why I fully agreed with the principles behind it.

Good substitutes are agave nectar (very yummy and a little goes a long way), stevia and maple syrup. :)

Hi Mick. :)

I'll second Est's recommendation for Agave Nectar. It's great on cereals like corn flakes.

Hey Mick,

Bee's don't produce honey for us... plus agave is yummy, love it on pancakes and porridge :)

now that I know that honey is bee-barf, I really want to barf. lol.