Bees are amazing. They toil away endlessly and selflessly for the greater good of the hive. Our politicians could learn a thing or two from bees! Today we’re asking, “How many bees does it take to make a jar of honey?” and we consider how the answer to this seemingly innocent question feeds into the vegan way of life.
How Many Bees Does It Take To Make a Jar Of Honey?
It takes 1076 bees to make one 16oz (454g) jar of honey. This is an average figure calculated by looking at some of the top honey producer websites [1] which, apart from one, all came in at around the same number so is probably quite accurate. Let’s just say, bees work really hard!
Watch: ‘Be Smart’ presents some amazing honey bee facts
( some of the numbers will just blow your mind! )
You may also like: “Do Bees Get Mad When You Take Their Honey?”
Would You Like To Have Your Food Stolen?
With this amount of intense work required to make just a single jar of honey it’s amazing there’s enough to go around really.
Well guess what? In reality, there isn’t.
When humans harvest that sweet yellow gold (it’s actually bee vomit but hey ho!) they have to replace the food they’ve taken so that the colony can survive the winter.
The sugary substitutes given to the bees are not nutritious enough to provide the colony with sufficient sustenance. Antioxidants and important enzymes [2] the bees need are lacking in this poor man’s honey.
How would you like it if someone bigger than you came along and took most of your potatoes, replacing them with a bag of french fries?
I don’t know about you, but I’d be pretty miffed.
When we start asking these questions you can begin to understand the logic employed by vegans when we refuse to eat honey … a position many people find ridiculous and hypocritical.
What on earth could possibly be wrong with spreading honey on your morning toast?
Bloody vegans.
Why Vegans Don’t Eat Honey
You knew it was coming so let’s get it out of the way shall we?
Vegans reject foods and products where the deliberate exploitation of animals is involved in their creation.
Honey is one of those foods … no matter which way you cut it.
In our article, “Is Opposing Migratory Beekeeping Vegan Hypocrisy?” we look closer at the main arguments surrounding this divisive aspect of veganism.
It’s nothing to do with virtue signalling or being a ‘woke’, lefty vegan. Those criticisms usually come from people who feel personally threatened by veganism because it highlights something in their own life which they know is wrong.
In reality, veganism is not about them and their selfish outlook on life. It is about the person who decides to be vegan because they want to make a stand against animal exploitation and cruelty.
We choose to be vegan because we believe humans do not have the right to lord it over the animal kingdom. We see ourselves as an integral part of the Earth’s ecosystem and not sitting outside of it as many people seem to think is the norm.
The carnivore crowd will have you believe that humans are the apex predator and this is why we sit at the top of the food chain.
But that is just coming from a place of ego. We have become so arrogant that we think the rules of nature don’t apply to us. Well, nature is fighting back and if we push it too far we’ll see how she deals with a parasitic species sucking the life out of this blue and green orb.
Some Vegans Are Ok With Honey
The honey debate is one which splits the vegan crowd down the middle. Some vegans have no problem with honey and others reject it outright as animal exploitation.
The latter group simply do not consider the former group to be vegan. Simple as that.
While I am firmly in the latter group I do not castigate those who consider honey to be acceptable … and this is where I lose all the total abolitionists.
Don’t get me wrong, total abolition has to be the ultimate goal but that reality exists in a place where we are an awful long way away from arriving at.
Yes, all animal exploitation is wrong but there are levels of exploitation and my personal opinion is that we first need to focus on the 80 billion farmed land animals put to death every single year just for a moment on the lips.
Not to mention the trillion+ fish killed annually … yep, that is TRILLION!
The sheer volume of sentient life we humans are responsible for abusing is currently off the scale. Veganism addresses this and offers an alternative path.
So if you are vegan in every other way but choose to eat honey then I’m still going to give you respect for choosing your compassionate path. To attack you would be to shoot ourselves in the foot as a movement.
I don’t agree with your position and I will always try to convince you that honey is not vegan but the sad truth is, we have bigger vegan fish to fry in this mad world of over consumption.
Bees Work Hard For That Yellow Gold
It’s almost impossible to imagine the dedication and hard work which goes into making a single jar of honey. If you think you’ve had a tough day at the office, spare a thought for those worker bees …
… they don’t stop all Summer long.
Imagine diligently working away for your whole life, paying into your pension like a responsible citizen only to reach retirement and have some scally run off with your funds!
It does happen.
The resources you needed to survive your later years in some kind of acceptable manner, all stolen by some lowlife.
It’s the same for the bees … so vegans leave that honey for whom it was intended 🙂
I hope this piece has helped answer your question today … I always welcome (and answer) your comments below. A social share is always much appreciated as well. Spread the word!
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Thanks for reading and have a peaceful day.
Rohan.
[1] Based on a 16oz jar: Nature Queen – 1152 bees | Omlet – 1135 bees (20 trips per bee, per jar) | One Honey Bee – 762 bees | Honey Bee Hobbyist – 1179 bees | Big Island Bees – 1150 bees. [2] Khan SU, Anjum SI, Rahman K, Ansari MJ, Khan WU, Kamal S, Khattak B, Muhammad A, Khan HU. Honey: Single food stuff comprises many drugs. Saudi J Biol Sci. 2018 Feb;25(2):320-325. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2017.08.004. Epub 2017 Aug 16. PMID: 29472785; PMCID: PMC5815988.