Where do you draw the line?

So where does honey fit in?

The simplest reason why honey isn't viewed as suited for a vegan diet or way of life is by definition. The term vegan was coined in 1944 and is defined as follows:

‘ Veganism is a way of living which excludes all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, the animal kingdom, and includes a reverence for life'

So do we class honey as an animal product?

A.      Yes, because bees are defined as animals they are in the phylum Anthropoda the same as crabs.

But bees don’t make honey it’s a product from plants.

 

Wrong! Bees are responsible for the production of honey and its transformation from nectar to honey occurs when the bees digest nectar they have collected and then regurgitate it.

 

We don't, however, need to go back to 1944 to define honey as not vegan. Any definition of veganism would talk about not exploiting animals, and honeybees are, without a doubt, animals and Bees do experience pain and suffering while they are being exploited for their products -not only honey but other products like beeswax &  royal jelly.

There is simply no way beekeepers, humane or otherwise, can avoid harming or killing bees while they are extracting the bees' products.
Many choose their lifestyle because they wish to avoid harming any other creature, and so they choose not to eat honey.