Thanks for the question. I don’t have an all-things-considered view on whether a given individual should avoid honey. It’s a complicated issue. Here are some thoughts:
First, to simplify, I’ll assume that you only care about welfare and thus I’ll set any deontological considerations to the side.
Next, you should ask yourself whether you think bees are likely to lead net-negative lives. The standard argument (note: I’m not endorsing the argument here) for the position that insects lead net-negative lives appeals to the fact that most insects have a huge number of young that don’t survive to adulthood. That’s not the case for honey bees. Juvenile mortality in honey bees is fairly low, probably no more than about 30%. Every colony has so-called ‘nurse bees’ that oversee feeding the larvae. That said, honey bees are hard workers their whole lives (aside from a small number of drones), and it’s not uncommon for beekeepers to claim that honey bees literally work themselves to death.
Next, you should ask yourself what type of honey you’re considering eating. Bees thrive when colonies have plenty of space and access to a wide variety of natural forage. Bees suffer when they’re hauled hundreds of miles in cramped trucks then stuffed in monocultural, pesticide-ridden agricultural landscapes. In most regions, there are plenty of small, local honey producers that treat their bees well, or at least as well as you can if you’re in the honey business. There’s no general label for this type of honey, but it’s often called “wildflower honey.” If you’re unsure about how the honey is produced, you can sometimes find good information by browsing the producer’s website or, if you’re at a farmer’s market, talking to the beekeeper directly.
Finally, you should ask yourself a number of consistency questions. Are you a vegan? Is it easier to keep to a vegan diet if you don’t carve exceptions for yourself? Is it easier to explain your dietary restrictions (and avoid charge of hypocrisy) if you don’t make exceptions? If you truly care about bee welfare, are you willing to alter other parts of your diet? Plenty of crops depend on bees for pollination, especially almonds. Are you willing to avoid almonds, too? (Side note: commercial almond milk is mostly water, so despite the bad press it’s gotten in some circles recently, I would be more concerned about what’s in your granola rather than what’s in the milk you pour on top of it.)
On the question of how vocal you should be about avoiding honey, I think the answer is: not very. You can be vocal about bee welfare without making people feel bad about eating honey. The reforms that help honey bees the most probably aren’t going to require trying to directly change people’s dietary preferences, so I don’t think we should risk any sort of confrontational advocacy that could reflect poorly on the movement or otherwise cause people to disengage with us.
Hi Haven!
Thanks for the question. I don’t have an all-things-considered view on whether a given individual should avoid honey. It’s a complicated issue. Here are some thoughts:
First, to simplify, I’ll assume that you only care about welfare and thus I’ll set any deontological considerations to the side.
Next, you should ask yourself whether you think bees are likely to lead net-negative lives. The standard argument (note: I’m not endorsing the argument here) for the position that insects lead net-negative lives appeals to the fact that most insects have a huge number of young that don’t survive to adulthood. That’s not the case for honey bees. Juvenile mortality in honey bees is fairly low, probably no more than about 30%. Every colony has so-called ‘nurse bees’ that oversee feeding the larvae. That said, honey bees are hard workers their whole lives (aside from a small number of drones), and it’s not uncommon for beekeepers to claim that honey bees literally work themselves to death.
Next, you should ask yourself what type of honey you’re considering eating. Bees thrive when colonies have plenty of space and access to a wide variety of natural forage. Bees suffer when they’re hauled hundreds of miles in cramped trucks then stuffed in monocultural, pesticide-ridden agricultural landscapes. In most regions, there are plenty of small, local honey producers that treat their bees well, or at least as well as you can if you’re in the honey business. There’s no general label for this type of honey, but it’s often called “wildflower honey.” If you’re unsure about how the honey is produced, you can sometimes find good information by browsing the producer’s website or, if you’re at a farmer’s market, talking to the beekeeper directly.
Finally, you should ask yourself a number of consistency questions. Are you a vegan? Is it easier to keep to a vegan diet if you don’t carve exceptions for yourself? Is it easier to explain your dietary restrictions (and avoid charge of hypocrisy) if you don’t make exceptions? If you truly care about bee welfare, are you willing to alter other parts of your diet? Plenty of crops depend on bees for pollination, especially almonds. Are you willing to avoid almonds, too? (Side note: commercial almond milk is mostly water, so despite the bad press it’s gotten in some circles recently, I would be more concerned about what’s in your granola rather than what’s in the milk you pour on top of it.)
On the question of how vocal you should be about avoiding honey, I think the answer is: not very. You can be vocal about bee welfare without making people feel bad about eating honey. The reforms that help honey bees the most probably aren’t going to require trying to directly change people’s dietary preferences, so I don’t think we should risk any sort of confrontational advocacy that could reflect poorly on the movement or otherwise cause people to disengage with us.