Letter to the editor: Be a 'honey' to the bees

Aug. 15 is National Honey Bee Day. In honor of these fascinating animals, each of us can be a “honey” to bees by leaving honey off of our shopping lists.

In her new book “Animalkind,” People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals President Ingrid Newkirk recounts how bees meander up to 2 miles from their hives before buzzing home. Scientists believe that bees imprint a map of their territory on their diminutive brains and find their way back to their hives by navigating to familiar landmarks. Other research suggests that bees monitor the position of the sun to orient themselves in conjunction with an internal clock — the bee equivalent of computing longitude and latitude.

Bees are interesting, communicative animals — yet practices such as cutting off the queen bee’s wings, artificial insemination and mass execution of hives, even burning the hives with bees in them, are common in the honey industry.

To spare bees from suffering, try maple syrup, agave nectar, molasses, rice syrup, sorghum, Sucanat, barley malt or date paste instead of honey. And let’s truly appreciate bees by refusing to consume anything stolen from animals, and urging our friends to go vegan, too.

Amy Elizabeth

Norfolk, Va.