The age old question: Is Honey Vegan?

July 17, 3:24 AMAtlanta Vegan ExaminerAlyse Smith

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The true, clear cut answer, in my book, is no. A vegan, defined by numerous websites, health books and people is considered a person who does not eat ANY thing that has any type of animal or animal by-product in it; vegans do not believe in eating anything that has caused an animal pain and suffering.

So why is honey such an age old debate? Many vegans who eat honey say things like "the bees aren't killed or harmed in any way when they extract and make the honey." This statement is the furthest from the truth. Bees have a central nervous system, just like humans and other animals, which allows them to feel pain. According to Friends of Animals' website, 

 "At peak honey-production time in 2003, an estimated 155 billion bees, from 2.59 million colonies, were exploited in the U.S. to produce honey for human consumption. Honey, beeswax, bee pollen, royal jelly, propolis and venom are taken from bees for human uses. In the process of acquiring these, beekeepers regularly disturb the bees’ homes by removing the honeycombs from the hive. When this is done some bees will inevitable be injured or crushed, and any bees who sting the beekeepers will also die."

When any animal dies, it experiences pain. Saying that honey is vegan is saying that milk is vegan; it's about the same wrong idea. Some websites, such as vegan.org say it is up to the individual. That is true, but if you are going to be a vegan, wouldn't you want to give up everything and not just a few items?

 Vegan.org's website answers the question by saying:

"Again, it depends on one's definition of vegan. Insects are animals, and so insect products, such as honey and silk, are not traditionally considered vegan. Many vegans, however, are not opposed to using insect products, because they do not believe insects are conscious of pain. Moreover, even if insects were conscious of pain, it's not clear that the production of honey involves any more pain for insects than the production of most vegetables, since the harvesting and transportation of all vegetables involves many 'collateral' insect deaths."
 

Personally, none of us would like there to be any insect deaths in the harvesting of plants, but this has nothing to do with bees making honey. While the harvesting of vegetables does involve some bug deaths, these are accidental. Check out this wonderful link that a reader, Rob provided for us: Vegan Organic Network. 

A vegan friend of mine of mine once said to me, "Not eating honey is just like not eating plants; plants feel pain too." To me, comparing bees suffering to that of vegetables is making an absolutely absurd statement. There is no reason for plants to feel pain, where as a living, breathing animal unfortunately feels the pain and suffering that humans are forcing upon it.

Honey is just like an egg: An animal product! Upon further research into this topic, I found that some manufacturers of natural products, such as Tom's, use honey and beeswax in their products but claim to be animal free. To see for yourself, the direct link to Tom's of Maine's website is here.

 Being a vegan means that I will not put anything near my mouth that is any part of an animal.  I refuse to buy or use products that have been tested on animals or have an animal byproduct in them. If you use alternatives for everything else except honey, I highly suggest you think about using an alternative to honey. One delicious honey replacement is Rice Nectar, which you can buy online at The Vegan Store. It can also be found at Whole Foods, along with another replacement called agave nectar.