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> Bees are almost as intensively farmed as anything else, and, while the effects and outcomes are nowhere near as severe as other forms of intensive husbandry,
by SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
> Bees are almost as intensively farmed as anything else, and, while the effects and outcomes are nowhere near as severe as other forms of intensive husbandry, the honey is not necessarily the pure and innocent product you might think it is.
Thankyou for pointing this out. I say the same about almond milk and other products hyped by vegans that are pollinated by bees. The commercial beekeeping industry is horrific. Part of the reason wild bee colonies are collapsing is because of the diseases cultivated by commercial colonies.
I'm a backyard beekeeper myself and can say with at least some authority that there's nothing at all "vegan" or "moral" or "natural" about the way these commercial operations treat the bees and the environment.
- JoeAltmaier 8y agoReally? We have to be sympathetic to mindless insects now? For instance, folks raise millions of crickets in my state for flour and protein - we eat them - but the bees deserve special empathy because they're not free-range or something? I understand folks like bees, see them in a kindly light. But they're little automatons with maybe a neuron or two total. If we raised them, crushed them and ate them, it'd be no different from how we treat other insects.
- Vinnl 8y agoI think the GP was not referring to the harm to bees as horrific, but to the harm done to our living environment by harming bees.
- JoeAltmaier 8y agoI wondered, but couldn't make sense of that. How is providing commercial bees in bulk a detriment to the environment? When is another bee a problem?
- Vinnl 8y agoI have no personal anecdotes to bring in here, but they said: > Part of the reason wild bee colonies are collapsing is because of the diseases cultivated by commercial colonies. So if another bee comes at the cost of multiple existing bees, that's a problem.
- JoeAltmaier 8y agoAnd why is one bee more important than the other? Not sure diseases are 'cultivated' by anyone - they are unfortunate wherever they occur. Again, not sure what the idea is.
- Vinnl 8y agoWell, the point as I understand it is that it will eventually lead to the extinction of all/most bees - and plenty of other species, perhaps including humans. The scale is my assumption, but the point appears clear to me.
- belorn 8y agoEverytime I have seen a article or documentary on the subject the primary cause of wild bee colonies collapsing it is pesticides and herbicides, commonly used in for example sugarcane plantations. Would you say that the average bee farming is causing more harm to wild bees than the average sugarcane farmer?