Bees are highly social and cooperative insects. They have a unique and complex form of communication based on sight, motion, and scent that even scientists don’t fully understand.
Bees communicate with each other through intricate “dance” movements. And research has shown that they are capable of abstract thinking, as well as distinguishing their family members from other bees in the hive.
But bees are perhaps best known for their honey.
Nature’s sweet sauce comes with unique properties. It appears in everything from cakes to cheese to tea (it was even once used as an ingredient in embalming fluid). Honey is linked to a host of health benefits, as it contains antioxidants that have been proven to help lower blood pressure.
But what exactly is honey? Are bees harmed to make it? And is it vegan?
Since honey comes from an animal, it is not considered vegan. As The Vegan Society states, “honey is made by bees for bees.” Just like cow’s milk and chicken eggs, the natural production of honey is not intended for human consumption. (Scroll to the bottom of the article for some of the best vegan honey alternatives.)
How and why do bees make honey?

Bees feed on pollen and nectar, but honey is their single source of food during the winter months. Alison Benjamin is the co-author of A World Without Bees and Good Bee: A Celebration Of Bees And How To Save Them. She explains: “When there are no flowers or it’s too cold to get to them, the bees will starve.”
And so, they collect nectar from flowering plants to make honey, which is then stored inside the hive for a rainy day (literally). “Nectar is the carbohydrates that fuel their flight. Pollen provides the protein they feed to their larvae so that they can develop into strong, healthy adult bees,” Benjamin explains.
A honeybee will visit up to 1,500 flowers to collect enough nectar to fill their stomach. When returning to the hive, the bee regurgitates and chews the nectar, turning it from complex to simple sugars.
This process is repeated thousands of times throughout the spring and summer. Yet a single bee produces just a twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in their lifetime – and every ounce is “fundamental” to their hive, according to the The Vegan Society. (Notably, it takes the pollination of two million flowers – and around 55,000 miles of bee flights – to produce a single pound of honey.)
“It is not an individual bee that the honey is feeding but the colony – made up of a queen and about 10,000 worker bees in the winter,” Benjamin explains.
How do bees help the environment?
The weeks and miles of work put in by bees benefits the ecosystem, too.
“When bees visit the flowers for their food, they transport some of the pollen from the male part to the female part of the flower, allowing it to reproduce seeds and fruits which is why they are so important for agriculture and the ecosystem,” Benjamin says.
“They pollinate one in every three mouthfuls we eat, as well as nuts, berries, and seeds for birds and mammals in the food chain, and the trees and other vegetation on the planet that sequesters carbon in the atmosphere.”

Indeed, bees pollinate all manners of fruit including apples, cherries, blueberries, and cranberries. Blueberries and cherries are 90 percent dependent on bees, and almonds require 100 percent honeybee pollination at bloom time.
This is a contentious topic in itself; millions of honeybees are transported around the US to pollinate almond trees, according to Scientific American. The same practices are used to pollinate avocados.
Benjamin warns that forcing bees to gather pollen nectar from “vast swaths of a single crop deprives them of the far more diverse and nourishing diet provided by wild habitats.” Transferring the animals also “continually boomerangs honeybees between times of plenty and borderline starvation,” she notes.
A world without bees
It’s not just our food; pollinators play critical roles everywhere we look. “When we look at the benefit of pollinators to our natural world, the numbers are staggering,” maintains the Xerces Society, an environmental nonprofit. “Pollinators keep plant communities healthy and productive … A nature walk or stroll through a garden would be a very different experience without pollinators.”
Professor Johanne Brunet, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, shares a similar view. “Humans depend on plants and plants depend on pollinators,” Brunet says. “A balance must be maintained in order to sustain life on earth and protect human survival and health.”
Why are bee populations declining?

There are more than 20,000 species of bees and more than 90 million beehives across the world, according to Statista. But bee populations are dwindling.
Out of the 2,000 wild bee species in Europe, one in 10 is facing extinction, The Soil Association states. And globally, an estimated one in six bee species is regionally extinct, whilst more than 40 percent are vulnerable to extinction.
Pesticides are one factor driving this decline; the insecticide neonicotinoid is thought to be the leading cause of falling bee populations. In fact, research shows the chemical can now be found inside honey itself.
Mass bee deaths
Whilst investigating for her book, Benjamin discovered millions of honeybees had died due to pesticides, parasites, and poor nutrition. This is, in part, due to the intensive farming methods adopted by humans. “In the US, large-scale beekeepers regularly report at least a third of their colonies die each year,” Benjamin notes.
“Lack of nutritious food is also a problem because the bees will be transported to one monoculture after another to pollinate – often thousands of miles apart in the US – but it’s not providing them with a healthy diet, so this again will also make them weak.”
Oftentimes, beekeepers replace the honey they remove from a hive with a sugar substitute. This practice prompts honeybees to overwork themselves to replace the missing honey. Meanwhile, the sugar replacement lacks the nutrients, fats, and vitamins in honey that bees need to be healthy.
Is honey production cruel?
PETA UK’s director, Elisa Allen, maintains that the honey industry “abuses bees for profit.”
“They’re subjected to genetic manipulation, their hives are smoked out, and their wings and legs are torn off as they’re pushed out of the way, all so that humans can steal their honey – which is their fuel and their life’s work and rightly belongs to them, not us,” Allen says.
“Many beekeepers use inhumane methods to ensure their own safety and to reach production quotas, including cutting off the queen bee’s wings so that she can’t leave the colony and killing drones to extract semen in order to inseminate the queen.”

Royal jelly, also called “bee milk,” is a substance similar to gelatine that is used in cosmetics. It’s harvested from the glands of queen honeybees. Benjamin says this is the “most cruelly produced” product as it can only be produced on an industrial scale by bees “treated purely as royal jelly machines.”
11 vegan substitutes for honey
There are lots of natural honey substitutes out there. You can also purchase vegan honey products online. Read on for 11 swaps for honey that are bee-free but just as sweet as the real thing.
1. Maple syrup
Tapped from maple trees, this sap is a sweet-tooth’s delight. Bake with it, top your pancakes with it, or add it to your favorite marinades for sweet perfection.
There are plenty of options available online, like Kirkland Signature’s Canadian Maple Syrup, or Buckwud’s organic maple syrup.
2. Agave nectar
Agave nectar comes from agave plants, which are succulents native to Mexico. It has a neutral flavor and works like honey in many recipes. The syrup contains less glucose than refined sugars and is the perfect way to sweeten a cup of tea.
The Groovy Food Company produces a wide range of agave nectars, with flavors like Blueberry, Cinnamon, Strawberry, and Vanilla.
3. Rice syrup
A sweet and sticky natural sweetener made from whole grain brown rice, rice syrup is a macrobiotic staple. The flavor may be too strong for tea or atop pancakes, but use it just like you would honey in recipes.
It has a higher glycemic index than most other sweeteners, and can be purchased online.
4. Barley malt
Like brown rice syrup, barley malt is the concentrated sweetener from whole grain barley. It’s great in baked goods, too.
5. Coconut nectar

This nectar comes from the sap of coconut trees. Minimally processed, it is widely considered purer than syrups made from coconut sugar. You can find coconut nectar made by The Coconut Company here.
Add it to dried fruit, dates, and oats to make these vegan Coconut Flapjacks.
6. Date syrup
Dates are frequently used in cakes and sweet treats. Additionally, they can be made into syrup by soaking, boiling, and sieving. Biona makes an organic date syrup, or try your hand at making your own using Lazy Cat Kitchen’s recipe.
7. Molasses
A naturally rich source of plant-based iron, molasses is exceptionally sweet. It’s got a strong bite to it, too, making its flavor distinct. Use in your favorite baking recipes, but ideally halve it with another more neutral sweetener like rice syrup or agave nectar.
8. Sorghum syrup
Sorghum syrup is made from the grassy sorghum plant and resembles molasses. It can be used to add sweetness to baked goods.
9. Vegan honea

Honea is often made from natural flavorings including apple juice, lemon juice, and molasses. Some vegan honea products – such as those developed by Plant-Based Artisan – are made with prebiotics proven to support gut health.
10. Fruit syrups
Concentrated fruit syrups can work as honey substitutes in baking recipes. Or, mixed with maple for a sweet topping to your pancakes, waffles, or French toast.
11. Raw sugar
Swapping out liquid honey with raw sugar in baked goods takes a bit of finessing but can be done. You typically just need to up your liquid content.
For more ways to help protect bees, see here.
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This article was originally published on April 2, 2021. It was last updated on September 3, 2022.
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I keep bees – just a few hives as a hobby. All the small beekeepers I know keep bees because they want to help the environment and a fascinated by the bees which are amazing creatures. We feed the bees so they survive when there is not much forage and only take a small amount of honey and leave ample to see the bees through the winter. Sometimes I take no honey at all. I understand that commercial breaking is very different so agree that honey is best bought from local enthusiasts.
What this article misses is that unfortunately, due to diseases and pests such as the varroa mite, most bee colonies can no longer survive in the wild. Swarms that are not caught by beepers normally decline and die.
Beekeepers have to regularly check their bees for disease and pests and intervene with treatments to keep them alive. The diseases may well exist due to the prevalence of pesticides in the environment and the decline of natural habitat. But the clock cannot be easily be wound back.
Without beekeepers there would be far far fewer honey bees which are a key pollinator species. Without pollination there would be lot less food for everyone , and possibly not enough to for mankind to survive.
Please research better and understand the bigger issues before you have the luxury of debating whether honey is vegan.
Honey is also kosher and halal.
Not really relevant surely
Looks like these extreme vegans are going to starve themselves into extinction. I will leave them alone to eat what they want to eat as long as they leave me alone to eat what I want.
Exactly who stopped you from eating what you want?
You can eat what you want at the expense of your health and our environment. Why think about all of us and the Earth’s Flora and Fauna, when you can think about yourself?
I totally agree.
The bottom line in all of this and global warming, deforestation, pollution and mass-extinction is simply that THERE ARE TOO MANY HUMANS IN THE WORLD. The incessant demand for more of everything is unsustainable and will ultimately and inevitably lead to ruin for the environment and obviously us too.
If we, as a species, could humanely reduce our rate of reproduction and at least maintain our present world population or at best reduce it over time, a lot of the problems we and our descendants face would probably go away.
Loss of bees is a loss of a vital link in the chain of the natural world. It is but one of many issues we have to face and address, if not then what we’ll have to face will be a whole lot worse.
You are completely WRONG. We can be 20 billion Humans on Earth living sustainably and it’ll be fine. Stop spreading silly nonsense. The Earth is enormous and it has enormous capacity to have us all as long as we don’t harm it. REMEMBER: “The more the Humans on Earth, the more the Geniuses. And we need plenty of those to survive and spread to the Universe. Imagine if there was just few million people around and a killer Pandemic or an Armagedonous asteroid fell on Earth. There’ll be no one left. A 7.5 billions population has created all the Science, Philosophy and Arts we wouldn’t have otherwise. Be grateful!”
As a date farmer I understand that I need bees…. If I don’t have bees I don’t get dates. If I don’t have dates how can you get your vegan date syrup?
So, vegans don’t eat eggs or milk as it is not made by animals specifically for human consumption. As I understand when lettuce grows it is only becouse it wants to be eaten by the humans? Have you discussed it with lettuce?
Bee’s don’t reproduce, only the queen can!
Not exploiting animals is not the only reason why people become vegan, in fact I believe it is the weakest reason for many… Anyway, back to the bees. I believe (That means I have no evidence) that The major reason for bees dying is pollutants, not exclusively insecticides. Secondly, bees that are exclusively used for pollinating certain crops (which gives us various flavours, and colours of honey) are as certain to suffer from the same health problems as us eating the same thing all our lives. However, wild bees are also dying at an alarming rate and suffer from the same parachutes and diseases, so commercial practices do not explain everything.
My brother is a small honey producer, but it is still his business more than a hobby – he does loan his bees to farmers but the nests are rotated between different crops but mostly his honey is from seasonal wild flowers: it gives the best flavour. He stops collecting honey more than two months before winter, earlier if the weather has been poor and makes sure the bees have enough… You are not allowed to sell honey commercially unless you are licenced by beekeepers union, which has strict rules about bees’ welfare – if any beekeeper is found harming the bees like mentioned in this article, the owner will be fine or indicted under the same animal protection laws as cattle or pets, as well as losing his licence to keep bees for life.
Thank you for your comment. Very insightful. Insecticides are a huge issue, let’s hope we can tackle that also.
Parachutes are a huge issue too
In your list of Vegan sweeteners, you forgot to mention “SWEET FREEDOM” which is a plant based fruit syrup made in UK. It looks, smells, runs and tastes like honey but it’s made just with three ingredients, apples, grapes and carob. It has NO preservatives, NO GMOs, it’s source of fibre, it has low GI so it’s not so bad for diabetic people and it only has 13 calories per teaspoon. For information and recipes go to https://www.sweetfreedom.co.uk
Thank you for mentioning 🙂
I wonder just how many Vegan women, abort their babies?
Every. Single. One.
It was a great blessing to me seeing this article because I was recently signed up for voluntary work at a local Cathedral where they keep bees. It was the first time I’d visited such a place and it didn’t sit well with me the simple fact that the bees are imprisoned in those man-made hives. I lost my cool and angrily explained this the next time I was due to be involved at a different cathedral (Salford and Manchester in the UK). I was embarassed with my behaviour and didn’t think anyone would understand my point of view but clearly I’m not the only one who thinks this way. I’ve only been a vegetarian for a little over a year but I’m so glad I converted and I’ve honestly found it not too difficult at all. I did kind of phase the meat out of my life because I didn’t want to tell my family at first so that actually made it a smoother transition for me. I used explanations like I’m trying to be healthier but eventually I made my announcement over dinner one evening late in November.
honey is very good to healty
Hi, honey is made by bees for bees. Not for humans.
I consider myself vegan, but i do eat honey. It is hypocritical, and i am ok with that under the circumstances. This article and a few of the comments herein demonstrate a sort of overlooked piece of the puzzle without really admitting the consequences- bee population collapse is caused by diseases and parasites spread through industrial agricultural pollinating practices. This is used for a very diverse list of fruit and vegetable products we would otherwise consider vegan, and we all eat these things and then extol the cruel practices of harvesting honey. I wonder if we need to accept that we cannot be vegan for the sake of bees. without them we have none of the foods we rely on, and we cannot support our civilization.
farms in china have pollinated apple orchards by hand, with an incredible success rate, but each one of those apples would cost $20. Some day we might be able to develop synthetic ai driven bee “drones”, but For now without bee abuse, we simply will die of famine and war.
*extol, meant excoriate
On reflection and based on the information in this article I think I will leave the honey for the bees from now on .
Thanks Graham! The bees appreciate it.
My goodness.. so many people being butthurt because some wish to live doing minimal harm