So, most commercial almond orchards actually ship in bees from beekeepers to pollinate them every year, and as you might assume, the bees aren’t having a good time. Having their hives transported long distances is extremely stressful for them (notably, bees won’t poop inside their hive, and having to hold it in for hours cause severe health issues) the fact that they’re pollinating a monoculture is detrimental to their overall health, and these intense pollination sessions drastically reduce the lifespans of the worker bees.
Actually, this isn’t just for almonds, though that’s the most infamous. Plenty of crops rely on this practice.
What are your thoughts? Are these plant-based foods not vegan because animals were exploited in their production? How, if at all, would your thoughts differ for an orchard that had local bees on site instead of shipping bees in? I don’t think any large scale orchard relies on wild bees, so that’s probably not applicable unless you’re buying super local, like, your friend who has an almond tree in their back yard local.
Definitely not vegan.
‘Beekeepers attributed the high mortality rate to pesticide exposure, diseases from parasites and habitat loss. However, environmentalists and organic beekeepers maintain that the real culprit is something more systemic: America’s reliance on industrial agriculture methods, especially those used by the almond industry, which demands a large-scale mechanization of one of nature’s most delicate natural processes.’ … “The high mortality rate creates a sad business model for beekeepers,” says Nate Donley, a senior scientist for the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s like sending the bees to war. Many don’t come back.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/07/honeybees-deaths-almonds-hives-aoe