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It always strikes me as odd when articles like this portray the individual working with animals as having, or wanting to have, some sort of closeness to nature,

It always strikes me as odd when articles like this portray the individual working with animals as having, or wanting to have, some sort of closeness to nature, or reverence for the natural processes that support the life they seem in awe of. Because invariably, they then feel some sort of entitlement to interfere with the processes and steal from them. In this case it’s honey, but we do it to so many living things. Having respect for these natural creatures and processes means letting them live on their own without a sense of entitlement to steal from them. Honey is for the bees, not you. You don’t need it, and they do. Let them be(e) and just bask in the fascinating world of the hive as only an observer, not an intruder (as the author says themselves!)

jlkuester7 5y ago
> Having respect for these natural creatures and processes means letting them live on their own without a sense of entitlement to steal from them Like maybe we should have some respect for bee keepers and let them do their thing without going on the internet and telling them they are living their lives wrong.... Sarcasm aside, I think it is very important to prioritize sustainability and treat everything in nature with respect. But that does not mean that we, as humans, should never interfere with nature. How could we live in that case? Basically all organisms interact/interfere with other organisms all the time. It is what it means to participate in an ecosystem. Humans need to focus on having a positive impact on their ecosystem in stead of just "letting them live on their own". Particularly in the case of bees, I am not a scientist, but I expect it is better for the ecosystem to have more bee keepers keeping more bees, even if they take some honey, then it would be to leave the bees to fend for themselves....
- sweetheart 5y ago
  I never said I don’t respect anybody, for what it’s worth. Also, I believe we should try to minimize our impact on the environment, which means not messing around with animals when we don’t need to survive, as is the case with bees. I agree with you that it’s impossible to live without disrupting natural processes, but we can aim to do as little as we need. And honey bees are often extremely detrimental to native bee species which are also pollinators, so having more honey bees being kept by beekeepers can be actively very harmful [1]. 1. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-problem-with-honey-bees/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-problem-with-...
lm28469 5y ago
If the metric for being nature friendly is "doesn't interact with nature" I have bad news for you. If being a bee keeper is a crime against nature I hope you don't drive a car, live in a man made structure or eat processed meat. You seem to think Humans are some sort of entities living outside of the realm of "Nature", we've been working/using animals/plants for as long as human exists, hell, most other animals do it too. Bees are "stealing" pollen from flowers to store it as food, we're "stealing" honey from bees to use it as food. Someone harvesting his own honey from his hives certainly is closer to nature than someone buying honey (produced god knows where and in what conditions) in a supermarket.

jlkuester7 5y ago

> Having respect for these natural creatures and processes means letting them live on their own without a sense of entitlement to steal from them Like maybe we should have some respect for bee keepers and let them do their thing without going on the internet and telling them they are living their lives wrong.... Sarcasm aside, I think it is very important to prioritize sustainability and treat everything in nature with respect. But that does not mean that we, as humans, should never interfere with nature. How could we live in that case? Basically all organisms interact/interfere with other organisms all the time. It is what it means to participate in an ecosystem. Humans need to focus on having a positive impact on their ecosystem in stead of just "letting them live on their own". Particularly in the case of bees, I am not a scientist, but I expect it is better for the ecosystem to have more bee keepers keeping more bees, even if they take some honey, then it would be to leave the bees to fend for themselves....

sweetheart 5y ago
I never said I don’t respect anybody, for what it’s worth. Also, I believe we should try to minimize our impact on the environment, which means not messing around with animals when we don’t need to survive, as is the case with bees. I agree with you that it’s impossible to live without disrupting natural processes, but we can aim to do as little as we need. And honey bees are often extremely detrimental to native bee species which are also pollinators, so having more honey bees being kept by beekeepers can be actively very harmful [1]. 1. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-problem-with-honey-bees/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-problem-with-...

lm28469 5y ago

If the metric for being nature friendly is "doesn't interact with nature" I have bad news for you. If being a bee keeper is a crime against nature I hope you don't drive a car, live in a man made structure or eat processed meat. You seem to think Humans are some sort of entities living outside of the realm of "Nature", we've been working/using animals/plants for as long as human exists, hell, most other animals do it too. Bees are "stealing" pollen from flowers to store it as food, we're "stealing" honey from bees to use it as food. Someone harvesting his own honey from his hives certainly is closer to nature than someone buying honey (produced god knows where and in what conditions) in a supermarket.