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.

與人們普遍的看法相反，取蜂蜜供人類食用其實不僅僅是讓蜜蜂“做自己該做的”，人類也因此獲益。

雖然蜂蜜的產(chǎn)生是自然過程，但人類取的蜂蜜遠(yuǎn)超過了自然情況下蜂蜜的產(chǎn)量，所以蜂蜜的工業(yè)化生產(chǎn)的各個階段對蜜蜂都有很大影響。

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

自然狀態(tài)下，冬季蜂蜜是蜜蜂的食物來源，但在蜂蜜農(nóng)場，養(yǎng)蜂人會取走蜂蜜，然后用廉價的糖代替它，但糖不能給予蜜蜂充足的營養(yǎng)。

所以蜜蜂在重新生產(chǎn)它們所需的蜂蜜時會過勞死，其他的蜜蜂不是餓死，就是死于營養(yǎng)不良，還有一些因為免疫力降低而染上疾病。

蜂蜜的工業(yè)化生產(chǎn)不僅會對蜜蜂本身造成負(fù)面影響，蜂蜜產(chǎn)業(yè)現(xiàn)有問題也在加劇，這一災(zāi)難性后果不僅對蜜蜂，而且對人類自身都會造成潛在的嚴(yán)重影響。

環(huán)保人士常說，全球的蜜蜂總數(shù)在下降。由于蜜蜂在食物生產(chǎn)中起到重要生態(tài)作用，所以蜜蜂數(shù)量減少是人類長期食物供應(yīng)的致命威脅。

人們很自然地會以為蜂蜜農(nóng)場集中養(yǎng)殖能解決這一問題，可以培育蜜蜂并保證蜜蜂的總數(shù)不變，但事實并非如此。

上述這些只是問題的一部分。

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. 營養(yǎng)不良

exacerbate /?ɡ'z?s?rbe?t/ v.使加劇;使惡化

The symptoms may be exacerbated by certain drugs.

wreak /ri?k/ v.造成（巨大的傷害或者破壞）