Let's try to briefly explain what happens in beekeeping… You know that little smoke produced in the initial process? It consists of lighting the ember inside the fumigator, whose purpose is to confuse the bees so that they cannot attack/defend themselves. The material to produce this smoke can vary from corn husks to charcoal, regardless of the material used, the smoke is dense and difficult to inhale, which can cause irritation in the eyes of beekeepers, imagine this smoke in the bees. With a few puffs, many fall to the ground writhing and stay on the ground for a while, and many end up dying. Suffering and death are not only caused by asphyxiation, they are often burned alive, as the smoke is hot and can cause death.
When the hive doors are opened, more sprays are made directly on the bees, eggs, larvae and all over the place, leaving them stunned and most often dying after dying from the smoke.
After this process, they begin to remove the honeycombs in search of the royal jelly, killing the larvae to prevent the birth of new queen bees, thus preventing the formation of new swarms, causing more deaths at this stage by the instruments used in the harvest, many being crushed.
The next step is the removal of honey, usually done at night, being done by centrifugation, more bees being killed, sometimes drowned in the honey they produced or in the centrifuge machine, as many remain in the combs. The bees are separated from the drones to prevent new swarms, so beekeepers have more control. Anyway, this is just a summary of what happens in the honey harvest. You can find more details at “An account of a former beekeeper”.
“The participation for these years in beekeeping brought me the clear situation that the extraction of honey has always been far from being gentle and not causing death and suffering to bees. Based on my personal experience, I can say that: beekeeping is far from being a peaceful, humanitarian and compassionate practice for any being.” (Leandro Petry – ex-beekeeper – Lajeado/RS).
