Honey is an animal product. So no, vegans don't eat honey.

No way. In gathering honey, bees are crushed to death. Hives are transported to northern climates during summer months and taken back south in winter. Bees not inside the hives when the hives are rounded up are left behind to die in the cold.

As a vegan you can respect Honey Bees by using Agave Nectar or Maple syrup instead of Honey. Honey is food for Bees not humans.

If you eat honey you're not a Vegan it's that simple.

With respect, the argument that beekeepers are keeping the bee populations up is like saying rare livestock breeders are keeping an old tradition alive without which many rare breeds would become extinct.

The bees that are on the decline in the wild are not the same sub groups of bees that are kept for the honey industries. Those bees are not helping to keep alive the wild swarming or solitary bees of which there are many different strains and all are under threat.

What we do need is to look to providing (or returning) appropriate habitats for those bees to find shelter and food and to replenish their numbers. The honey industry will not help in this process.

I don't think the argument is that managed hives are helping to support the native bee populations. They are simply playing a similar ecological role, and one that is sorely needed. I also believe that the honey industry shares many common interests with those concerned with protecting native bees, particularly in regards to habitat preservation and pesticide use.

Personally I don't have a problem supporting local apiaries as I see them as much more benign than other animal operations and and even beneficial, but I understand that it crosses the line for some people.

I guess I see it slightly differently because I've only ever lived in New Zealand, but I've always been taught (at university level) that our native bees here don't pollinate crops well, so we actually do need bees to keep things going. I think it can be argued that I'm not vegan as a result, but I am really trying to act ethically in a big way- not just towards animals, but towards our ecosystems etc.

I don't eat it, but I use it on my face.
It's the only thing that has helped with my acne at all, so it's hard to stop. Plus it isn't filled with ****ty chemicals like face washes.
Though, occasionally it finds its way into my mouth when I'm doing my face mask.

I "eat" vegan rather than "am" vegan - I've adopted the diet because of health reasons and not ethical concerns. And I'm new - 7 weeks.

Yesterday I had made everything for my sandwich, and found out I had run out of my whole grain whole wheat. The only thing in the cupboard washoney wheat bread.

I ate it. I don't feel ashamed per se, but I do feel let down, a little disappointed, maybe even a little bit mad.

7.5 weeks. But then I get to thinking about it...the gelatin capsules and bonding agents in my vitamins. I empty the capsules (it's only cinnamon)...Still, 99.999% of the way there, jumped into the deep end and a finger remains dry. It can be frustrating.

Yesterday I wasn't vegan by the width of two pieces of toast. Today, I did all right.

I "eat" vegan rather than "am" vegan - I've adopted the diet because of health reasons and not ethical concerns. And I'm new - 7 weeks.

Thank you for posting. I needed the right words. Now I have them. I eat vegan too.

I eat honey and I'm a vegan. Local bee keepers are doing a lot of good keeping bee populations going when there is a huge problem with a plummeting bee population in the world.

No one group defines what a vegan is. I have been around for many years and been a vegetarian decades ago. The issue of eating honey was never defined as vegan or not vegan until the last couple decades. Being vegan has become polarizing. I don't enter the controversy.