From an ethical standpoint, vegans believe that animals—even insects—are not ours to use in any manner. Many vegans think that because honey is a food made by bees, it should only be consumed by bees and to take that honey for our use is wrong. Vegans believe in ahimsa, a Sanskrit word meaning “do no harm.” Unfortunately, commercial honey harvesting can often harm the bees.
Bees produce honey to sustain them through the winter; however, many commercial honey producers will replace the honey they take from the hive with corn syrup or sucrose, which does not provide the nutrients necessary for the health of the bees (via Healthline). A lack of nutrients can weaken a bee’s immune system, making it more prone to the damaging effects of pesticides and more vulnerable to deadly illnesses.
Commercial beekeeping practices don’t always consider our fuzzy friends during the business of honey production. In the same way birds in factory farms are destroyed when there’s an outbreak of bird flu, bees are often culled if there’s an outbreak of disease that could spread throughout the hive or simply if the beekeeper doesn’t want to continue to feed the hive throughout the winter (via Guardian). Bees can be accidentally killed during the harvesting process as well (per Food Empowerment Project).