> Not so fast there....  

I was agreeing with this:
>  The thesis itself is not as bothersome as the self-published op-ed piece about the article.

I don't really have anything to say about Alar nor almonds. I object to people trying to inflame passions over things they don't really fully understand, like honey bee suffering. Bees and other animals, including humans, do things that appear to display no regard for self preservation whatever. Whether they suffer in this, do it without suffering, or do it despite suffering—is unanswerable at present. 

When a honey bee goes straight for my eye, is it thinking "this is worth dying for"? Or is it more like a mother that would step in front of her child to protect it, at any cost to herself? Of course, any act of self sacrifice implies that one values oneself. And most species do seem to at least have the instinct of self-preservation, with or without a self concept. 

 I have a problem with attributing altruism to non-humans. We call it altruism when we set aside self interest for others, but if honey bees have no self-interest, than that cannot be called altruism. By the same logic, if insects do not feel pain, then they cannot suffer. In the end, the beekeepers I know treat them as if they do suffer if mistreated, even if we don't know if they do.

PLB

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