I’m glad letter-writer Amy Elizabeth of PETA (“Be a ‘honey’ to the bees,” Aug. 17, TribLIVE) shed some light on some of the malevolent practices of the pollination and honey industries. With that said, I believe she misses some important points.
As a local beekeeper, harvesting honey is only one small part of my hobby and small business. My No. 1 goal, always, is to keep my bees alive from season to season. Bees (like humans!) are one of the only animal species that hoard food. I, along with all other hobbyist beekeepers whom I know, only harvest surplus honey. My bees have never starved.
They have, though, succumbed to other ills — mites and diseases to name a couple — and I do my best to treat these issues to sustain my apiary. And, without the sales of honey, it would be economically challenging to perpetuate small bee populations in my local area.
So, instead of boycotting honey, I would instead argue to buy from small farms and hobbyists who have the best interests of the bees in mind.
Lastly, what many people forget is that bees are an invasive species from Europe. They are incredible pollinators, and they have benefited the American people, but they are not native and have replaced niches of other native pollinators. I do not understand how Elizabeth can pick and choose what is ecologically moral and what is not.
Adam Janosko
O’Hara