Of all the things we vegans avoid, honey categorically invites the most eye rolls. For some reason people can wrap their heads around the “no meat, no dairy and no egg” thing, but when it comes to this divisive little sweetener the mind apparently boggles.

But let’s look at the definition of veganism, which put simply is “a person who doesn’t eat or use animal products”. That includes everything that we put both into our bodies and on them – even the surprisingly delicious secretions of a stripy insect. While it may seem unnecessarily dogmatic to eschew something so seemingly innocent, there are a few uncomfortable truths about honey.

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Honey, as we all know, is a wondrous natural substance that not only tastes fantastic but has a multitude of health benefits too. It has been used as a medicine for millennia. What’s the problem then? Well let’s look at the very first thing I learned about honey harvesting. Commercial extraction means that the honey the bees have worked so damned hard to produce for their winter food store from the nectar they collect from flowering trees and plants is being replaced with a sugar water solution. This is a well-known (and somewhat controversial) large-scale beekeeping practice that could be avoided if enough honey were left for the bees to consume over the winter period. But the beekeepers needs to make a profit, right?

Because sugar water is devoid of any crucial protective properties, it’s trickery on an insect level. Without the essential antibiotic/antioxidant shield the honey provides the honey bee is ultimately left more susceptible to disease – something that might account for some of our current “bee decline” crisis and what scientists are referring to as “colony collapse disorder”. That, coupled with exposure to pesticides means they (and ultimately we), are on a hiding to nothing. It’s a scary prospect to envisage a world without bees and buying honey (or beeswax, propolis and royal jelly for that matter) sadly isn’t going to save us.

But we need the honey bees to pollinate our crops, don’t we? Well, yes and no. Honey bees can and do pollinate our crops but they are not necessarily the best for the job. Wild bees are also effective pollinators, but don’t produce honey we can harvest so it’s not worth our time and energy investing in them for honey. On the surface, it appears that honey is merely a by-product of the pollination process, and yet once you dig a little deeper you soon realise that the coveted golden nectar (and the retrieval thereof) is a major concern for commercial beekeepers, along with the lucrative contracts they get from farmers to pollinate their crops.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘ I can wholly understand why some self-proclaimed vegans have no issue in purchasing local, raw honey.’ Jars of English blossom honey and lavender honey for sale in Burford in the Cotswolds. Photograph: Tim Graham/Getty Images

No bees get harmed in the process of honey production though, right? Not exactly. Industrial bee farming has been known to “cull” hives after harvesting because it’s cheaper than feeding the bees throughout the winter. Those farmers who do choose to keep the hives in operation feed the bees that insipid sugar water, which in turn weakens their immune systems and leaves them vulnerable to infection. In the wild, of course, these bees would be using the honey they diligently harvested to keep themselves going throughout the winter months, arming themselves with all the nourishment they need to see them through. Another tactic implemented by large-scale beekeepers is to clip the wings of the queen bee to prevent swarming, thus ensuring there is no decline in honey production. For the same reason the queen is sometimes killed and replaced with a younger model. Comforting to know we humans don’t apply ageism just to our own species, eh?

But what about locally produced honey from small-scale beekeepers? Urban beekeeping is a hugely popular pastime at present and with it come many welcome positives. I tend to think of it as a bit of a grey area – and my approach to veganism fully acknowledges the reality of these “grey areas” in our complex, modern society. Even within this growing movement there are several varieties of small-scale beekeeping, a few of which include “balanced beekeeping” (taking the honey only when it’s in abundance), “natural beekeeping” (little or no interference with the hive) and “conservation beekeeping” (no honey is taken, the bees are left to their own devices), all of which can help restore the relationship we currently have with the honey bee to a more natural balance.

While I personally don’t consume honey and haven’t done for many years, I can wholly understand why some self-proclaimed vegans have no issue in purchasing local, raw honey. Of course, this is a hugely contentious issue that evokes strong emotions but for me this is about making a personal, informed decision not driven simply by the definition of a word.

Are you a significantly lesser vegan if you consume a small amount of honey given to you by a “balanced beekeeper”? I don’t yet have the answer to that. But if you’d rather not risk your hard-won vegan credentials, thankfully there is an array of plant-based sweeteners (maple syrup, date syrup and coconut nectar to name but a few) that will keep you satiated and the honey bee safe. And, more importantly, don’t forget you can keep Britain buzzing by planting a bee-friendly garden yourself to help encourage all bees to thrive. To use a very un-vegan phrase: there’s more than one way to skin a cat – or in this case, more than one way to save the bees.