eBay - Another inventive way to sell bees

[Rosti]

In the interest of understanding the view point of others I've just had a look at the Vegan Society page on bees.

The article is respectfully written and clear in it's meaning and reasons for objections to beekeeping. I only got confused about the matter of vegans relying heavily on pollinated crops as diet staples and failing to comment on that pollination being performed (to a significant extent) by honey bees. Could not see any explanation of their views on this, can anybody point me in the right direction please?

 

[m100]

...pollination being performed (to a significant extent) by honey bees.

Except that's not really true is it.

 

[Rosti]

Except that's not really true is it.

Would have been helpful if you had qualified that statement!

[Not my area of expertise] Was under the impression from general reading and various stats quoted in the media that honey bees are responsible for the pollination of about a third of what we eat with a very high significance in commercially grown fruit and veg, that figure is a percent on the total diet of people who are omnivorous and so includes our consumption of animal sourced foods (diluting the percentage to a third). I did a quick google to check before posting back (not the most reliable of sources granted but there was a common theme to posted quotes). If that is correct then surely a vegan has a greater reliance on pollinated crops as a food source and hence a greater reliance on the services of the honey bee than most?

Even if the animal sourced food element is a red herring a third of your vege intake still feels significant to me?

 

[Poly Hive]

That in a nutshell (no pun intended) is the Vegan dilemma.

They appear to morally object to beekeeping and on the other hand their very survival depends on it. Talk about biting the hand.....

PH

 

[RoofTops]

Rosti, the role of honey bees in pollination in the UK has been over-emphasised. It would be nice to think we beekeepers are keeping our fellow citizens alive but it simply isn't the case. There are no commercially significant crops which require honey bees for pollination.* Top fruit like apples certainly benefit from a hive of bees in the area but it is not essential as generally in the UK there are enough bees of other species (bumbles and solitary) to do the pollination.

The crops which keep people alive such as cereals and potatoes do not need pollinating at all. In the rest of the world crops such as rice feed billions and don't need pollinating either. Grass doesn't need pollinating either and grass is used for rearing animals for food.

The lack of bees in the US might mean a crash in almond supplies but the world would survive. It might also encourage the US almond farmers to stopping spraying their trees and the surrounding land with so many chemicals there are no wild bees left. If they encouraged the wild bees they might suddenly find they don't need to import honey bees for pollination.

* Happy to be contradicted if anyone can name one.

 

[Silly Bee]

That in a nutshell (no pun intended) is the Vegan dilemma.

They appear to morally object to beekeeping and on the other hand their very survival depends on it. Talk about biting the hand.....

PH

Isn't it true that most honey bees would die out without beekeepers, since most are of an imported strain?

The native British honey bee is almost extinct

 

[Rosti]

..... what you said!

Thanks for that! Always like to understand and appreciate the facts behind all sides of an argument and then modify my views accordingly.

 

[m100]

Was under the impression from general reading and various stats quoted in the media that honey bees are responsible for the pollination of about a third of what we eat with a very high significance in commercially grown fruit and veg

The press endlessly quotes one in three but with no justification for those figures, they also quote Einstein who never said anything that is documented about bees.

It's probably closer to half that or even less for those with a western diet, for instance Jamie Ellis who did a talk at Stoneleigh said 15 - 20% but that if I recall correctly was the figure for all bees. For the vast majority of the people on the planet that exist on grain (wheat, rice, corn) bees including honey bees are totally irrelevant. Even with a western diet the contribution of bumbles is more significant for instance with tomatoes, cucumbers, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. I don't go out of my way to eat almonds due to the way bees are treated in the USA, but a few other nuts might rely on some form of solitary or honey bee.

No doubt a lot of fruit like apples, oranges, peaches, kiwis rely on honey bees but even with five a day or more they are hardly a significant proportion of a western diet and nowhere near one in three mouthfuls.