Tim is still concerned with moral judgements on various appoaches to the
management of bees, and asks if there are volunteers to make the judgements.

I would hope every beekeeper already makes such judgements - but only
concerning his/her own actions.  In a civilised society the members need to
consider and be aware of the consequences of their actions.  When the
consequences are potentially so serious that it is too risky to leave the
judgement to the individual, society introduces laws and regulations - and
sets up formal channels for judgement of violations.

The issues we are discussing are basically practical - and not a moral
problem for society.  Does sugar feeding benefit bees or not - or is it done
just to increase income, by those who have that aim?  Is it worth producing
honey on the basis that it is likely to be good for human health, or is it
only a sweetie?  Each beekeeper will have their own position and hopefully
some will be prepared to share it thru this list to help others to review or
develop their own position.

Society would come into it - and make official judgements - if for example
claims were made to customers in order to justify a sale, that cannot be
substantiated.  So at present, on the issue of whether eating honey is good
for human health, we can note the extensive historical documents that show
people thru the ages have believed it did, and we can reason from this that
it would not have been believed for so long unless empirical evidence gained
within those earlier societies supported the belief (like honey eaters as a
group seemed to have better general health or lived to greater age), and
using imagination we can speculate where beneficial components in honey may
come from (and so define a research aim) but we certainly cannot put on a
jar that 'if u eat this u will feel better'.  At present, that has to be
left to the individual customer to decide.

Tim seems touchy if anyone questions how others manage their bees.  But it
is just a matter of individual conscience - 'if the cap fits, wear it'.
Nothing I say is meant to take away the right to decide for ourselves , with
the limits of where risk to society sets in.

I do hope some lurkers may comment on the BEEKEEPING issues that have been
raised and move us on from carping about choice of language.

Robin Dartington

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