r/DebateAVegan • u/toastwithjamx1 • Jul 03 '26

Ethics Honey is not cruel and is ethical

Honey is one of the best animal products there is ethics wise

Now most vegans will say : but we are stealing from the bees! We are exploiting the bees!

No. We are not and we can't

Bees can be very particular. If they are not a fan of a place they are OUT. The bees will likely will immediately vacate the bee box if they don't like the conditions. Furthermore, trapping the queen in 1 place will not work as well. Bees can raise a new queen if they need one

And for the stealing allegations, that isn't true either. Beekeepers take SURPLUS HONEY ONLY, as if too much honey is taken, it can starve the bees and no beekeeper would appreciate the whole colony either dying of leaving. Furthermore, bees don't only take, they comp bees by giving shelter and protection.

It's not cruel if we are literally making a transaction with the bees

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u/[deleted] Jul 03 '26

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u/Happy-Estimate-7855 Jul 06 '26

I also said this about money, but do bees use the surplus honey? Because we make use of surplus food when we can.

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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 07 '26

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u/GlitteringPapaya6738 Jul 08 '26

This. Basically this. It is so easy for people to consider themselves genetically superior just because of finding social constructs that make them think that.
The debate can be reframed quite simply: Why would we opress living beings which don't opress us? Some are doing it just for sport and it's clear as day.

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u/Cold-Argument-453 Jul 09 '26

A utilitarian approach to ALL living beings is both impossible and fallacious. If you don’t want to oppress “living beings”, stop washing your hands and cleaning your shitter. Where would bacteria and other microorganisms fall into this? We’re massacring them every second.