First of all, animals should not be used for work because :im-vegan: . But having said that... I see how human labor creates surplus value. And I think I understand why machines don't create surplus value. But what about animals that get exploited to perform work, say the mule that pulls a plow? Like humans, they require a "real wage" to sustain them i.e. food, shelter, and medical attention, right? And if the value of labor power of a day of a mule is say 2 hours (that's how much human labor is invovlved in making feed, etc), then if this mule works for more than 2 hours, are they not creating surplus value for the capitalist that claims to own them?
Bees are a great example of stolen surplus value. Taking their honey before a harsh winter can wipe out a whole colony.
edit: maybe its not a good example idk I'm pretty dumb
bees are also moved around a lot to polenize commerical farms which is bad for them and is a big factor in killing the bees
and also irradicates local pollinators, further compounding problems with needing non-native bees
deleted by creator
where bees are the local pollinators they are also facing extinction though
Yes, in part due to industrial honey bees and the pathogens / diseases they tend to carry.
also because of pesticides. Basically agrarian capitalism and it's mistreatment of bees is making a serious go of killing us all
They make the honey and we make the money.
Domestic honeybees make more honey than they need, and hives in human care are protected from predation allowing the hive to continue to surplus honey. Why on earth would a bee keeper take so much honey that the hive can't survive the winter?? Bees are some of the least exploited agricultural animals, if a hive isn't happy they can just leave.
They actually can't leave, the queens wings are often clipped. Or the queen is kept in the hive away from the honey with a "queen excluder " mesh