Did you know today is National Don’t Step on a Bee Day? Don’t worry, I didn’t either! It’s a call to help protect our bees and I think it’s also a good excuse to talk about the consumption of honey in veganism.
As usual, I am far from lecturing anyone on anything. There’s no such thing as a perfect vegan. I will sound repetitive by now, but for me, doing as much as you can is enough. Once again, I created LELE’S for everyone, not just for vegans.
So, let’s talk honey. An interesting article by The Vegan Society affirms that ‘In conventional beekeeping, honey bees are specifically bred to increase productivity. This selective breeding narrows the population gene pool and increases susceptibility to disease and large-scale die-offs. Diseases are also caused by importing different species of bees for use in hives.’ It looks like honey isn’t vegan.
However, some beekeepers who believe to be helping the bee population, and therefore the environment. Bees are critical pollinators, which means that without them we wouldn’t have as many plants and as many animals who feed off those plants. Bees are necessary for our environment to thrive and continue to live.
Does keeping honeybee save the environment then? Or is it ‘the equivalent of farming chickens to save wild birds’?
I invite everyone to do their research and make their conclusion. I don’t consume honey nor do I use it in my cooking. But like many things, there is a grey area.
In the meantime, we can get our own Bee Saver Kit to help the decline of bees in the UK!
Lots of love,
Valentina x