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Please boycott bee pollen!

Oh… I’m sorry to be the one to start this topic, being such a bee product fan, but—I kept bees for a few years, and in my research I discovered some information that didn’t sit so well with the caring part of myself.

Bees collect pollen in sacs that are attached to their legs. To harvest the pollen, commercial beekeepers use a thick “comb” in the bottom of the hive, in the slit the bees use as a entrance/exit. The bees then have to drag themselves across the “comb” to enter or exit the hive. The bristles catch and often tear off their limbs and other parts, and, consequently, pull most of the pollen they’ve collected off their legs in the process. The beekeepers then collect the pollen and and get rid of most of the “debris” (aka. bee body parts).

Pollen is like bee bread (any of you who have tasted it can testify!)—they need it to survive as a healthy colony. Taking the pollen from them (in the usual way) makes them have to forage more often, which is wearing on their bodies and health. Here’s a quote from Wikipedia about bees:

“As a rule of thumb the foraging area around a beehive extends for two miles (3 km), although bees have been observed foraging twice and three times this distance from the hive. Foraging at extreme distances wears out the wings of individual bees, reduces the life expectancy of foraging bees and therefore the efficiency of the colony.”

Royal jelly is also harvested at the expense of the health of the colony, although I haven’t done enough research to give the specific facts. Basically, commercial, industrial beekeeping and pollen/royal jelly-harvesting practices are cruel on the small scale and dangerous on a large scale. They’re degrading the health and balance of honey bees and should be boycotted. Bees are so important to the health and survival of our natural world… It’s in our best interest to keep them healthy. Please help this situation by not buying bee pollen (or royal jelly) from large industrial companies and by educating those around you to do likewise! Thanks…

Comments

  • kandacekandace Raw Newbie

    Wow, thanks for posting this information! I had no idea how bee pollen was collected. I’ve never tried it, won’t be trying it now.

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    I guess you could keep your own bees – my friend who is a beekeeper doesn’t have a comb to “harvest” the bee pollen, but a little of it gets left around on the wood frames in the hive. He also can get royal jelly, but he says it is very time/labor-intensive & that’s why he doesn’t do it. He is a very educated and caring beekeeper. Interesting! I’ve heard that bees go up to 10 miles from their hive to forage.

    I wonder about info. on Wikipedia, only because of how Wikipedia works – I could go and edit that information later today and say whatever I want to make up about bees, and no one would know that I’m just making it up. So, it could be true, but I have no way to know.

  • WinonaWinona Raw Newbie

    I get my bee products from an acquaintance – I know that the bees are treated like household pets. He’s very kind to them! I buy my bee pollen and honey with pride, and will continue to do so. Like Angie, I will check my facts.

  • I’m glad to hear about acquaintance—I’ll check them out (that’s why I love these forums!). I was talking about the most-available pollen and royal jelly that some folks swear by. Keep checking your (and my) facts!

  • greenghostgreenghost Raw Newbie

    Yes, thanks for sharing this information. I have never purchased or tried Bee Pollen, but after reading your entry I don’t believe I will ever do so (unless I can get it from someone conscientious like Winona’s friend). I feel grateful to just be able to have a little honey now & then. The dwindling bee population is something that we should all be concerned about/aware of.

    Many people do not realize how dependent we are on insects and, sadly, they are not typically the most respected creatures. But anyone who ever got a good look at a Tiger Beetle or a Lunar Moth might be in awe of how amazing they really are.

    A friend of mine is an Entomologist by hobby (Medical Technologist as a profession) and he has really enlightened me about the amazing world of insects… and he introduced me to this interesting blog called “Bug Girl’s Blog”…. .

    http://membracid.wordpress.com/

  • bittbitt Raw Newbie

    I never even had been pollen but I will discourage others if I am asked about it. My cat killed a bee once. Bad boy!

  • lzhptlzhpt Raw Newbie

    I hope that doesn’t apply to raw honey too! I always like to believe that my honey is freely given and that the bees are happy for me to eat what they made. Am I being naive?

  • if you want bee pollen but from a site that says it is gathered ethically…

    Living Tree has some and I think its quite yummy:

    http://www.livingtreecommunity.com/store2/produ…

  • KristensRawKristensRaw Raw Newbie

    Yes, Izhpt, sorry to say, but that is naive.

    Dr. Michael Klapper, M.D., (a vegan doctor and best selling author) advises against using honey for health reasons, because it spikes natural sugar levels of the body. Moreover, there have been documented cases of botulism from people eating honey. Of course, eating honey in its raw form increases the opportunity for botulism. Honey is, basically, regurgitated bee vomit.

    Bees make enough honey for the colony and enough pollen for the new queen. They don’t go to all the trouble to give it to you.

    When someone disturbs a colony to take honey or pollen it places a great amount of stress on the bees. This disorients them for a period and, in that sense, their whole order has been tampered with.

    I wouldn’t dream of stealing from bees. There is no need in my opinion when you can use delicious and nutritious alternative such as fresh organic dates to sweeten recipes. You can even make a date paste if you need something of a liquid nature. Simply blend some pitted dates with a little water.

    Kristen Suzanne

     

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    Dates are high-glycemic, too. I have had type 1 diabetes for seven years, and have been eating high raw for the last three. The first summer of this new way of eating, I ate a lot of raw honey. I once ate a half-gallon of creamy honey in three days – scooped it out with a spoon (I think I needed magnesium – raw cacao wasn’t on the market yet). Anyway, my blood sugars were good & normal with only one third the previous amount of insulin by eating so much raw food, even when I ate all that honey. Everyone is different, and I don’t feel good with that much honey now, but that may change again; who knows.

    Bees DO need to keep some honey to eat during the winter, so it’s important to buy the honey from someone who leaves the bees enough to eat, instead of taking all the honey & feeding the bees on sugar water or corn syrup for the winter, but if you ever see a hive from which honey has not been collected, there is usually LOTS of old honey getting dark (going bad) because the bees don’t eat everything they make.

  • I think that honey and propolis and all the things that bees create are amazing and magical and can be used medicinally to good affect. There used to be more of a balance between honey bees and humans… we had to work a little harder to collect their bounty. With the industrialization and standardizing of their dwellings and environments (Bees naturally make rounded cone-shaped hives, hanging from strong branches or in the hollows of trees…) and by systematically introdcing hybridized, non-native, weak bees into environments all over the world, we’ve weakened them to an extreme extent. They aren’t strong enough to supply us with the same amount of medicine (honey, propolis, pollen)....

    There are some beekeepers that have a really good relationship with their bee friends and are careful about how much and what they take from them. But bee “keeping” is unnatural and 98% of the time, not ideal for the bees. It’s a complicated issue.

    Send the bees your love, set out a dish of water when it’s hot and dry out (that’s what they travel the farthest for), plant flowers, let your garden go to seed (or at least through flowering), limit the amount of bee products you consume, and consume with consciousness and gratitude…

  • matthewrmatthewr Raw Newbie

    Hey

     

    I think maybe you need new pollen traps. Watching my bees pass through my traps I have never seen any legs being ripped off or seen bee legs in my pollen.

    When I harvest 10 lbs of pollen every two days DURING abundance I know this isn't affecting their health as upon hive inspection the hives have an abundance of pollen stored. Harvesting pollen actually helps them from "pollen bounding" themselves during heavy pollen flow. 

    More bees are harmed during honey harvesting. Gonna boycott honey too ?

    One Love 

    P.S. people please do your own research before you just to boycotts, peoples' livelihoods depend on it. 

  • matthewrmatthewr Raw Newbie
    angie207 said:

    Dates are high-glycemic, too. I have had type 1 diabetes for seven years, and have been eating high raw for the last three. The first summer of this new way of eating, I ate a lot of raw honey. I once ate a half-gallon of creamy honey in three days – scooped it out with a spoon (I think I needed magnesium – raw cacao wasn’t on the market yet). Anyway, my blood sugars were good & normal with only one third the previous amount of insulin by eating so much raw food, even when I ate all that honey. Everyone is different, and I don’t feel good with that much honey now, but that may change again; who knows.

    Bees DO need to keep some honey to eat during the winter, so it’s important to buy the honey from someone who leaves the bees enough to eat, instead of taking all the honey & feeding the bees on sugar water or corn syrup for the winter, but if you ever see a hive from which honey has not been collected, there is usually LOTS of old honey getting dark (going bad) because the bees don’t eat everything they make.

     There's nothing wrong with harvesting and eating bee pollen if done correctly, please don't be so quick to jump to conclusions. Just be knowledgeable of how and where your bee products come from.

     

    One love from @Guanaboavalleyhoney . give me a shout on IG if you would like to know more about pollen harvesting 

    bitt said:

    I never even had been pollen but I will discourage others if I am asked about it. My cat killed a bee once. Bad boy!

     

  • aminejaminej Raw Newbie

    Hello

    I'm a beekeeper in England and most of the bee pollen traps that are used are harmless to the bees.

    Of course collecting pollen should be done carefully not only to not damage the bees but also to make sure they have enough food.

    Honey has been collected for thousands of years and has great health benefits when one does collect honey I believe has to make sure not to deprive them from all of it

    Yes, Izhpt, sorry to say, but that is naive.

    Dr. Michael Klapper, M.D., (a vegan doctor and best selling author) advises against using honey for health reasons, because it spikes natural sugar levels of the body. Moreover, there have been documented cases of botulism from people eating honey. Of course, eating honey in its raw form increases the opportunity for botulism. Honey is, basically, regurgitated bee vomit.

    Bees make enough honey for the colony and enough pollen for the new queen. They don’t go to all the trouble to give it to you.

    When someone disturbs a colony to take honey or pollen it places a great amount of stress on the bees. This disorients them for a period and, in that sense, their whole order has been tampered with.

    I wouldn’t dream of stealing from bees. There is no need in my opinion when you can use delicious and nutritious alternative such as fresh organic dates to sweeten recipes. You can even make a date paste if you need something of a liquid nature. Simply blend some pitted dates with a little water.

    Kristen Suzanne

     

     

    ΝίκοςΒουλγαράκης Deleted
  • Harmony1Harmony1 Raw Superstar

    As long as maple syrup is still okay innocent I just wish it were raw. 

    ClaireT
  • patriciab6951patriciab6951 Raw Newbie

    OMG

    as i posted on your site the way bee pollen is collected is equal to killing calves for veal and dogs for leather. The good Lord entrusted us with this world and killing the bees to make a profit is devastating. no wonder there is a shortage of bees.

    ClaireT
  • ClaireTClaireT Raw Master
    Harmony1 said:

    As long as maple syrup is still okay innocent I just wish it were raw. 

     Is it possible to get raw maple syrup?

  • I wish these people like KristensRaw open their mouths only to speak about things they actually know. Unfortunately, they do it in a superficially and naive way, spreading nonsense about things they have a very distorted idea about.

    Pollen is gathered from beekeepers safely and prepared responsibly by the majority of beekeepers and it is a very healthy thing to consume.

    It boosts cognitive functions  and memory and is suitable for people before exams or people after some trauma / surgery /illness etc.

    Bees gather pollen when they find it and they do NOT stop when their needs are met, but keep gathering as long as they can find. Or, as long as there is room in the hive.

    Responsible beekeeping protects the bees from starvation and a number of illnesses and frankly, without beekeepers bees would have a really rough time out there in the open.

    Have a great day!

    ClaireT
  • harpmomharpmom Raw Newbie

    I am a big supporter of bees. When I first went vegan (before raw), my roommate couldn't understand why I wouldn't eat honey. Wish I had had this info to share!

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