@Karnerblue wrote:
@HappyDaze I'm not really sure how they were getting the venom. My concerns were how they would extract the venom without harming them. But I see @ElvisShops has been kind enough to provide that explanation. But it still bothers me. I wish they (the bees) could be left alone in their environment to do what they do best. Silly, I know. I let little things get to me that others laugh at.
@Karnerblue I agree with you. Using bees for our benefits again is no different from testing animals. Someone initially had to do research on using been venom to see how humans could benefit from it. I see by googling it has been used as alternative medicine in RA, MS and nerve pain. So in my mind that is doing clinical research using bees in the same way cosmetic companies use rabbits to test products i.e. if it burns the rabbits eyes, it will burn ours.
For the First Time, U.S. Considers Declaring a Bee Endangered
The imperiled rusty-patched bumblebee, which pollinates blueberries, apples, and other
crops, has disappeared from 87 percent of its historic range.
Since we keep taking their habitats, they have less to pollinate. without bees, the environment collapses.
As for harvesting the venom without hurting the bees, maybe, but I'm skeptical of everything put put there that someone wants us to buy.
As for honey, beekeepers can harvest the honey without hurting the hive.
“Under normal conditions, a healthy colony of honey bees can have surplus ‘hive products’ removed without overtaxing the colony,” Eric C. Mussen, a bee expert at the University of California-Davis, told me via email. “Beekeepers do not have to ‘put pressure’ on the bees to perform. They perform at a high level anyway, so long as conditions are good. Beekeepers can only modify what is going on; they cannot increase or decrease output, like you can with a machine.”
Smart beekeepers leave the bees enough honey to nibble on over the winter, added Ramesh Sagili, principle investigator at Oregon State University’s Honey Bee Lab. “[Beekeepers] aren’t technically taking off the comb, they’re taking the excess,” he said. So that excess is fine for you to enjoy spread over your toast – especially if you buy from local producers at farmers markets or well-stocked stores, as they often struggle to compete with cheaper honey imports from places like China. Even better, supporting your neighborhood bees means supporting robust pollination for your local food system. Now that’s what I call a sweet deal. (I should point out that many vegans don’t eat honey for animal rights reasons
I'm done with P.C. Just say what you mean and mean what you say. It's easier.
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