There is a reason behind the phrase “busy as a bee” as these insects’ whole lives are dedicated to ensuring that hives keep humming and their next-generation takes birth. There are worker bees who keep building and cleaning their home. When the worker bees are not in their hive, they are in the search for food to feed the queen and drones. The food that they collect is a mixture of pollen, nectar, water, and plant sap. This mixture is then transformed into the honey, which is favorite among both bees as well as humans. In this writing, you will get answers to questions such as: is honey vegan, and how is honey made.
Humans have been consuming honey for centuries. There are approximately more than 20,000 species of bees in the entire world, and only seven species out of them are known to make honey. One of the most common honeybees is the European honeybee, and its population is in billions. The survival of bees is imperative for humans beyond just honey. The bees are so important that they are responsible for the trading of $15 billion in crop value each year.
Now the main question arises – is honey plant based? Before we discuss this, we need to understand that honey is an animal byproduct, created through a chemical process. Since honey is produced by honeybees naturally, if humans cultivate it without harming the bees, it should be considered vegan (as per many people). Additional care should be taken while taking out the honey from the beehive. Some honey should be left for honeybees as it is crucial for them too.
While many vegans restrain from all animal byproducts quoting the suffering of animals as a critical reason, some vegetarians feel that it does not matter, as all animals don’t necessarily feel the pain. So the question remains the same – is honey vegan? The answer is, it entirely depends on one’s definition of “vegan”.
