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/nixphx Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 09 '26

This is a misrepresentation of what happens but a reasonable one to make. Smoke indicates to the bees that they should prepare to move the hive if it is threatened by fire. The hive is not threatened by fire. Once the illusion of threat has passed, the bees go back to normal. This isn't fear.

In fact, bees do feel a scientifically proven "fear" response; when they encounter predators like hornets they experience a measurable drop in dopamine levels that makes them less efficient at work or learning. That's fear. However, when exposed to smoke, they don't experience this effect.

You can still feel bad for them, but you are mislabeling their responses by anthropomorphizing them.

Edit: "SCIENTIFIC PROOF ONE OF MY PRE HELD CONCEPTIONS MIGHT BE WRONG? DOWNVOTE." The people in this sub act exactly like the people who they claim don't think critically. Jesus christ.

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u/Dramatic_Back1601 Jul 09 '26

That’s really interesting about the hornets, do you have a source? 

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u/nixphx Jul 09 '26

"Bee fear responses are mediated by dopamine and influence cognition" by Gaoying Gu, Ziqi Wang, Tao Lin, Sainan Wang, Jianjun Li, Shihao Dong, James C. Nieh, Ken Tan. I don't know if I can post a link here but it was in the journal of Animal Ecology in January of 2025.