> Is commercial bulk honey of any greater value to society than the sugar that is apparently required to sustain the bees

Apparently so, as feeding "more sugar" and harvesting fall honey, rather than leaving fall crops for the bees has been a cost that never exceeded the sale price of the honey, even for those who sell "by the drum" to some packer or broker, at "world price".

My reasoning here assumes that pricing alone is a good yardstick for "value to society", as people willingly pay more for that which they value, as mercenary as that sounds.

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