By Rabbi Moishe Dovid Lebovits

The kashrus of honey and products made from honey has been the topic of discussion from time immemorial. We will discuss the halachos regarding the kashrus of honey, and other honey products.

What is Honey?

Honey comes from a German word “hunaga” which means golden. Honey has long been recognized as a remedy for many ailments for thousands of years. Many times when one has a cold it is used as a remedy to cure a sore throat, among many other uses. Honey is produced in the following manner. The bee flies to a flower, takes the nectar out of the flower and stores it inside their stomachs, and then returns to the hive. In the hive the bee regurgitates the nectar, adds enzymes to it and then passes it to worker bees. These bees then fan their wings creating a strong draft which makes most of the water evaporate from the nectar. Bees get rid of the extra water by swallowing and regurgitating the nectar over and over. The finished product is honey. Its flavors depend on the flowers from which the bees harvested their nectar.

According to the above it would seem at first glance that honey is the by-product of the bee since they swallow it. Therefore, it should be forbidden based on the Gemorah in Bechoros which says anything which comes out of a non-kosher [animal etc.] is tomei.

Why is Honey Permitted?

The Gemorah mentioned above says two reasons why honey is permitted.

Honey is not a secretion of a bee; it is just stored in the bee. According to this reason, honey from other insects would also be permitted.

There is a gezeiras hakusev which permits honey from a bee. Based on this reason, honey from other insects would not be permitted.

According to these two reasons, honey is a kosher product as codified in the Shulchan Aruch (we will discuss later on kosher status for Pesach).

Beeswax Beeswax is a substance which is secreted from the wax glands in a bee’s stomach. This emerges as a transparent liquid that the bee chews and molds into the cell on their comb. The honey combs are melted and filtered to produce a clean wax. Its color may vary from white to yellow or brown, which is because of the pollen that they may have eaten. The bees use this wax to create a honey comb in which honey is stored. In the honey comb, the bees grow and form a larva into mature bees.

Beeswax is used in a wide variety of things, such as a coating for fruits, jelly beans, candles, ear plugs, cosmetics, polishes, sewing, and soap making.

Is Beeswax Kosher?

According to the two reasons mentioned above why honey is permitted, they would seem not to apply to beeswax since it is a secretion and it is not honey from a bee. There are many sources in Chazal which would imply that beeswax, although a secretion of the bee, is permitted. The Levush says the beeswax is the excretion of the processing of the honey, [and since honey is permitted so too is beeswax]. The Tur says in regard to Hilchos Bedikas Chometz that we check with a wax candle, but not with a candle made out of [animal] fat since it may drip on the utensil and make the utensil non-kosher. From the fact that we can use wax candles and there is no concern that the dripping will make the utensils non-kosher is a proof that beeswax is kosher.

In addition, many use a wax candle and extinguish it on a utensil and there is no concern about making the utensils non-kosher.

The Rama says the custom is to light with a wax candle for neiros Chanukah.

The Mishpatim Yesharim was asked about the kosher status of a beverage made by boiling beeswax in water. He was concerned that maybe chelev was mixed in there, but he does not mention a concern of beeswax being non-kosher.

Contemporary Opinions

It is possible to say that wax has no inherent taste, but is a waste product and therefore not subject to the halachos of “anything which comes out of a tomei is tomei.” The opinion of Harav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach zt”l is that beeswax is permitted because it is not a food and is like dirt, and even if one were to chew it and extract honey from it, this is not considered an eating. This is the reasoning of Horav Moshe Feinstein zt”l to permit shellac which comes from a non-kosher insect.

Harav Yisroel Belsky zt”l maintains that beeswax is permitted to be eaten and this is the custom of Klal Yisrael, without anyone disputing the fact.

Bee Pollen Bee pollen is a yellowish or greenish substance. Pollen sticks to the many hairs that are on the bee’s body when the bee visits the flower. The bee then moves the pollen to an area on its hind legs and is then pressed into pollen baskets. The bee adds traces of saliva to make a more effective press. The bee pollen is collected off the bees’ legs by special devices placed at the entrance to the hives.

Bee pollen has many healthy vitamins and enzymes. In addition, it rejuvenates the body, stimulates organs and glands, and brings about a longer life span.

Kashrus Status

Pollen is not a secretion of a bee and therefore does not pose any kashrus issues.

Bee Bread

Bee bread is a mixture of honey and pollen and is a kosher food.

Royal Jelly

Royal Jelly is an extremely nutritious, thick, milky, white creamy substance located on the top of the queen bees. The bees produce it as food for a developing larva and as the unique diet for the queen bee. Without this, the queen bee would fail to develop properly. It accounts for their incredible size and longevity. They live forty times longer than the worker bees, seven years as opposed to seven weeks.

It is considered a health food due to its richness in protein, amino acids, vitamins, and fatty acids.

The following is a list of benefits that Royal Jelly offers: It increases life span, tones and strengthens your skin. It strengthens and stimulates your immune system, helps heal wounds, and gradually decreases pains. It also increases appetite, relieves weak and tired eyes, and many other benefits. Some want to say that royal jelly should be kosher since it is honey-like and it may apply to the gezeiras hakusev applied to permit honey.

However, this is not true because royal jelly is a secretion from the bee, and it tastes different than honey. Some say it is not fit to be consumed by humans, in which case the jelly would be permitted, but this is not the case.

Bee Propolis Bee propolis has been around for thousands of years and is sold as a health supplement. It offers effective antibacterial, antiviral, antiseptic, antifungal, and antibiotic properties. It heals burn wounds, it is effective in treating gingivitis and bronchitis. It is sold as an ingredient in many products such as toothpaste, soaps, creams, mouthwashes, and lipsticks. One can see that bee propolis is very useful in many areas.

Propolis is a resin that bees collect on their legs from trees and use it in their hive as a sealant and for other purposes. They carry it on their hind legs. Some say that the bees add saliva and other secretions to the propolis.

Propolis is comprised of resins (45-55%), waxes and fatty acids (25-35%), essential oils (10%), pollen (5%), and other minerals (5%). The above portion of propolis is kosher. The question is in the other part of the chemical make-up of propolis. Even if one were to assume that the other 5%, which are minerals, are from non-kosher materials, since it is a non-food item it is butel b’rov. Since it is a non-food item, it is another reason to permit it just as beeswax.

If saliva is what the last 5% of the propolis are made from, then it is permitted since honey is made with some saliva from the bee. However, if the saliva would be forbidden, then the honey would be forbidden as well. The consensus among the contemporary poskim is that bee propolis is permitted.

Selected Halachos of Honey Beracha

The beracha on honey is a shehakol, and the beracha achrona is boreh nefoshos. Some say the reason is because it is something which does not grow from the ground, to which one recites a shehakol. Many times it is only eaten as a tafel and the beracha on the ikkur would exempt the honey from a beracha.

Rosh Hashanah and Honey Dipping

We all know since we were young that we dip the apple and challah into honey on Rosh Hashanah. This custom is not mentioned in the Gemorah or Geonim, but is nonetheless the overwhelming custom of Klal Yisrael. A few points worth addressing are: Why do we dip the apple in honey as opposed to other fruits? When do we do the dipping? Should we also dip the challah in salt as well as honey? Until when is the custom to dip challah into honey?

We will begin to discuss each one of the above in order as presented.

The reason for eating the honey on Rosh Hashanah is for us to have a sweet new year.

The custom of some is to dip an apple into a bit of honey, while others dip it three times. Some say that the dipping into the honey (and other simonim) is done on both nights, while others say it is only done on the first night. The custom of most people is according to the first opinion quoted. Some say dipping the apple in the honey is done after kiddush. The custom of many is to do this after washing and eating some bread. When we dip the apple in the honey, no beracha is made on the honey since the apple is the ikkur.

Some say dipping the apple is based on the reason of kabbalah. The Ben Ish Chai says many reasons for this; one which is understandable and does not seem to be based on kabbalah is the following: An apple has taste, it looks and smells nice, and this is a good sign for us on Rosh Hashanah. Many poskim say that the beracha on the fruit should be said and a bit should be eaten before reciting the customary yihi ratzon in order to avoid any hefsek between the beracha and the eating. B’dieved it is not a hefsek if the yihi ratzon was said before eating the apple.

Many have the custom to dip the challah into honey on Rosh Hashanah. Some have the custom to dip the challah into salt on one side and honey on the other.

The custom of many is to dip the challah into honey until Shemenei Atzeres.

Pesach

Potentially, honey can be adulterated with additives such as corn syrup (which is not eaten by those who do not eat kitniyos). Some honey producers have been found to mix the inexpensive corn syrup into honey, and illegally label and sell it as “pure honey,” with no mention of this almost undetectable “filler.” Although this practice is an exception, one should, nevertheless, only purchase pure honey for Pesach, with a reliable Pesachdik hechsher. This problem does not impact the use of honey during the rest of the year.

Bishul Akum on Honey

There are two basic exceptions which, if a food falls into any of these two categories, then the food is not subject to the halachos of bishul akum. The food may be cooked by a non-Jew and eaten by a Jew l’chatchilah. A food which can be eaten raw is permitted for a non-Jew to cook since the cooking is not changing the food because it can be eaten without the cooking.

The issur of bishul akum is limited to foods which are served on a king’s table (a.k.a. olah al shulchan melachim) to be eaten with bread or as an appetizer. The reason is since if the food is not fit to be served on a king’s table, one will not invite someone over to eat, we are not concerned for intermarriage, and since one will not invite someone over, we are not concerned of a non-Jew mixing non-kosher into the kosher food.

Since honey is edible raw, there is no concern of a non-Jew cooking it.

Wishing all of Klal Yisrael a Happy and Healthy Sweet New Year!!!