Why don't vegans eat honey?

Question

I don't like honey and don't eat it, but why is it not suitable for vegans to eat? Bees aren't killed while collecting it are they? Surely it's just a natural by-product?
Am I very ignorant? Don't answer that offensively!

Here's a point, if vegans don't eat anything that exploits animals (including bees) do they have any worries about eating fruit that's been grown thanks to pollination by bees? I'm vegetarian by the way and I'm not being deliberately awkward.

Well, my eyes have been well and truly opened. Thank you for your answers. Now that I know that bees can be hurt in the production and collection of it I understand the answer to my question.
Damn it, we can't leave anything in peace can we?

Answer 1

Vegans do not eat honey from bees because bees make it for their own survival - not for us to eat! The extraction of honey from honeycombs (some bees are crushed in the process) forces bees to defend themselves and when they sting they die (their guts rip out of their body). Besides there is vegan honey which is animal cruelty free! Oh yes, and honey is bee vomit. They puke it out of their stomachs.

Answer 2

Pollinating plants is natural behaviour to bees so eating fruit and veg produced that way does not hurt them.

Vegans don't eat honey because it is an animal by-product and it is also seen as being cruel to bees.

The process of taking from the combs crushes some bees and many others die in futile attempts to drive off the bee-keepers and save their colony's food store.They get their stings caught in the protective suit,get disemboweled and die.

Honey is produced to keep the colony alive during the winter and during long dry periods when flowers are scarce-it is not meant as food for greedy humans.

Bees make honey by drinking nectar,getting rid of a lot of the water and altering it a bit then vomiting it back up-nasty.

There are vegan alternatives.

Answer 3

I'm a lacto-vegetarian and used to find it curious that vegans don't eat honey. I did some thinking and came up with a possible reason. You cite a good example as to why vegans don't eat honey actually. They don't feel bad about eating fruit, because the bees naturally pollinate. That's their behaviour. Nobody is making them do it. However, when man sets up artificial beehives, solely to produce honey and steal it from baby bees, even gassing the adult bees in the process to sedate them, that is cruel exploitation. I think that is the difference.

Answer 4

It's not good for the bees and Agave Nectar is an excellent replacement for honey! If you search the news you'll see where there's some new disease decimating commercial bee populations. A.N. might soon be the only 'honey' you can find if the bee problem spreads; you might consider searching this section of the YA database for "How are bees abused in making honey/how can you abuse a bee?" for more information about the topic of bees and AN '-)

Answer 5

The simplest reason why honey isn't vegan is by definition. The term vegan was coined by Donald Watson in 1944 and was defined as follows:

Veganism is a way of living which excludes all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, the animal kingdom, and includes a reverence for life. It applies to the practice of living on the products of the plant kingdom to the exclusion of flesh, fish, fowl, eggs, honey, animal milk and its derivatives, and encourages the use of alternatives for all commodities derived wholly or in part from animals.

Answer 6

The bees make the honey, just like chicken's make the eggs, so basically it is stealing from a living creature. Vegans do not take anything from a living creature, only plants.

Answer 7

Iam a vegan i heard the honey is inside the bee yuk. Uk

Answer 8

Being vegan means not eating/wearing/using anything that is an animal or comes from an animal. It doesn't just stop at food, it's the whole aspect of not exploiting/abusing animals, which is why we also don't use anything made of silk, etc.

Answer 9

Vegan ism is a way of living which excludes all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, the animal kingdom, and includes a reverence for life. It applies to the practice of living on the products of the plant kingdom to the exclusion of flesh, fish, fowl, eggs, honey, animal milk and its derivatives, and encourages the use of alternatives for all commodities derived wholly or in part from animals

Answer 10

honey is a by-product and collecting it does cause harm to and kills bees, which is why as a vegan i don't eat honey