This isn’t true for the vast majority of commercial honey unfortunately. If you’re buying it from the supermarket, or any producer that operates at even medium scale, they’ll clip the wings of the queen so that the hive is unable to leave even if they want to.

So from what you’re saying, it seems like not only is killing whales unnecessary for the Faroer anymore, but the document you linked seems to imply that it’s actively detrimental to their health.

Also this response doesn’t really engage with what I said before about the lines of reasoning being flawed. You’re painting a picture of how whaling has been an integral part of their cultural history, and that’s interesting information, but it doesn’t really relate to whether it’s the right thing to do.

So again, it’s an argument of the form “X is ok because it’s cultural and we’ve been doing X for a long time,” which I don’t think is very persuasive.

And one more thing: you’re now saying that they don’t kill whales commercially? So “Y is ok because we would be economically ruined if we didn’t do Y” doesn’t even apply, right? Or am I reading what you said incorrectly?

Got it, thanks for clarifying. I think both lines of reasoning have problems though:

1. X is ok because it’s cultural and we’ve been doing X for a long time.
2. Y is ok because we would be economically ruined if we didn’t do Y.

I can think of many things to fill in for X and Y that satisfy the necessary conditions, but still aren’t ok. I do, however, think this line of reasoning is valid:

3. Z is ok because we would literally starve if we didn’t do Z.

I don’t think any vegan would take issue with #3, since in that case Z is necessary, and vegans are only concerned with unnecessary harm.

Just to be clear, you’re no longer saying it’s ok to kill whales because it’s cultural and they’ve been doing it a long time? You’re now saying that it’s ok because they would be economically ruined if they didn’t kill whales?

I’m not trying to be combative, just trying to clarify.