Honey Production Is Not an Environmental Industry 蜂蜜生产是一个不环保的产业

Contrary to popular belief， cultivating honey for human consumption isnt just a matter of letting bees do what they do and reaping the benefits.

Although the creation of honey is a natural process， humans extract far more honey from bees than the culturally. As a result， bees can suffer during all stages of industrialized honey production.

Honey is created when bees suck the nectar out of a flower， regurgitate it， and process it with other bees back at the hive.

In their natural states， they use this honey as a food source during winter. But on honey farms beekeepers take that honey and replace it with a cheap sugar substitute—one thats insufficient to meet honeybees nutritional needs.

As a result， honeybees die of over-exhaustion attempting to reproduce the honey that they require others die of starvation or malnutrition， while others develop weakened immune systems and contract diseases.

Moreover， the negative consequences of industrial honey production extend far beyond the bees themselves. The honey industry also exacerbates an existing problem， a rather catastrophic one that has the potential to wreak havoc not only on bees， but on humanity itself.

As environmentalists often note， worldwide bee populations are in decline. Because of the crucial ecological role that bees play in food production， this decline is nothing short of an existential threat to human beings long-term food supply.

It would be natural to assume that honey farming en masse， by cultivating and maintaining constant populations of honeybees， is part of the solution. But its not. In fact its part of the problem.

與人们普遍的看法相反，取蜂蜜供人类食用其实不仅仅是让蜜蜂“做自己该做的”，人类也因此获益。

虽然蜂蜜的产生是自然过程，但人类取的蜂蜜远超过了自然情况下蜂蜜的产量，所以蜂蜜的工业化生产的各个阶段对蜜蜂都有很大影响。

蜂蜜的加工过程是蜜蜂先把花蜜吸出来，反流，然后回到蜂巢里和其他蜜蜂一起加工。

自然状态下，冬季蜂蜜是蜜蜂的食物来源，但在蜂蜜农场，养蜂人会取走蜂蜜，然后用廉价的糖代替它，但糖不能给予蜜蜂充足的营养。

所以蜜蜂在重新生产它们所需的蜂蜜时会过劳死，其他的蜜蜂不是饿死，就是死于营养不良，还有一些因为免疫力降低而染上疾病。

蜂蜜的工业化生产不仅会对蜜蜂本身造成负面影响，蜂蜜产业现有问题也在加剧，这一灾难性后果不仅对蜜蜂，而且对人类自身都会造成潜在的严重影响。

环保人士常说，全球的蜜蜂总数在下降。由于蜜蜂在食物生产中起到重要生态作用，所以蜜蜂数量减少是人类长期食物供应的致命威胁。

人们很自然地会以为蜂蜜农场集中养殖能解决这一问题，可以培育蜜蜂并保证蜜蜂的总数不变，但事实并非如此。

上述这些只是问题的一部分。

Word Study

suck /s?k/ v. 吮吸;抽吸;抽取

She was noisily sucking up milk through a straw.

malnutrition /'m?lnu'tr??n/ n. 营养不良

exacerbate /?ɡ'z?s?rbe?t/ v.使加剧;使恶化

The symptoms may be exacerbated by certain drugs.

wreak /ri?k/ v.造成（巨大的伤害或者破坏）