# What makes my honey Kosher ?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 30, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426 "2010-11-30T17:11:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426/1 "2010-11-30T17:11:37Z")
I noticed today my jar of honey has a little Kosher symbol on it.
What would make my honey kosher?
I know bees aren’t kosher, but all honey has at some point been in contact with bees- and as honey can be kosher, presumably contact with bees isn’t what would make it treyf.
I can’t see pork products, shellfish or cheeseburgers being involved in the honey production and bottling process.
Is the honey kosher simply because you won’t accidentally eat a bit of bee, or is there more to it than that?
---
### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426/2 "2010-11-30T17:18:55Z")
Honey is a product of bees, but is not a product _of_ bees.
See [here](http://www.jewishcooking.org/kosherfood/honey.html) and [here](http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/712032/jewish/Why-Is-honey-kosher.htm).
---
### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426/3 "2010-11-30T17:23:48Z")
Honey is naturally kosher - I mean, we wouldn’t be promised a land of milk and honey if honey were _treif_, right? - but they still have to inspect it to make sure the factory isn’t thickening it with lard or something. It’s a pro forma thing.
---
### Author:  [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426/4 "2010-11-30T17:24:19Z")
Rabbees?
---
### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426/5 "2010-11-30T17:39:05Z")
> [@Alessan](#):
>
> Honey is naturally kosher - I mean, we wouldn’t be promised a land of milk and honey if honey were _treif_, right?
I’ve seen a few references that the word translated as “honey” in the KJV bible might not necessarily mean specifically bee honey, but a “honey” derived from figs or dates. Doesn’t change the answers to the OP, but just thought I’d throw that out.
---
### Author:  [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426/6 "2010-11-30T18:01:37Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#):
>
> I’ve seen a few references that the word translated as “honey” in the KJV bible might not necessarily mean specifically bee honey, but a “honey” derived from figs or dates. Doesn’t change the answers to the OP, but just thought I’d throw that out.
I’d like to see a link to those referances. Never heard of any historical “sugar” derived from plants being called honey in any context before; unlike the fake [honey scams](http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/con-man-stings-israeli-towns-with-fake-honey-scam-ahead-of-rosh-hashanah-1.312613) that are going around now.
---
### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426/7 "2010-11-30T18:03:35Z")
> [@](#):
>
> What makes my honey Kosher ?
The fact that he was born to a Jewish mother, or converted.
::d&r::
---
### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426/8 "2010-11-30T19:39:16Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#):
>
> Rabbees?
Or Maccabees.
Or, maybe, the male bees have been circumcised.
---
### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426/9 "2010-11-30T19:41:28Z")
For food to carry a kosher label, it is not enough for it to be prepared using acceptable ingredients and methods but also must be overseen by one of the certifying organizations. Specifically for honey I’m not sure what would cause it to not be kosher.
---
### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426/10 "2010-11-30T19:57:18Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#):
>
> I’ve seen a few references that the word translated as “honey” in the KJV bible might not necessarily mean specifically bee honey, but a “honey” derived from figs or dates. Doesn’t change the answers to the OP, but just thought I’d throw that out.
This sounds like the “Jesus was a vegan” idea. “Lamb” was really “lamb’s plant” and fish was seaweed. Since vegans don’t believe in eating honey, they have to make “honey” mean something they would eat.
If the facts don’t support the theory, the facts must be changed.
---
### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426/11 "2010-11-30T20:05:43Z")
Hey, not my idea, [just sayin’.](http://www.jpost.com/IsraelGuide/JerusalemAreaTours/Article.aspx?id=63)
---
### Author:  [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426/12 "2010-11-30T20:13:21Z")
The Talmud’s answer as to why honey is kosher and bees aren’t is that bees don’t make honey. Flowers make honey. Bees just take the honey from the flowers back to the hive, or as it puts it, "Why did they say that bee-honey is permitted? Because even though they bring it into their bodies, it is not a product of their bodies "
---
### Author:  [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426/13 "2010-12-01T00:22:49Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#):
>
> The Talmud’s answer as to why honey is kosher and bees aren’t is that bees don’t make honey. Flowers make honey. Bees just take the honey from the flowers back to the hive, or as it puts it, "Why did they say that bee-honey is permitted? Because even though they bring it into their bodies, it is not a product of their bodies "
Except that of course it is a product of their bodies. Honey isn’t nectar, it’s nectar mixed with enzymes and the product that results from that enzymatic digestion.
---
### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426/14 "2010-12-01T01:14:49Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#):
>
> Or, maybe, the male bees have been circumcised.
Yes, the ends of their stingers are snipped off.
---
### Author:  [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426/15 "2010-12-01T01:44:03Z")
> [@Blake](#):
>
> Except that of course it is a product of their bodies. Honey isn’t nectar, it’s nectar mixed with enzymes and the product that results from that enzymatic digestion.
Writers of the Talmud didn’t know that. So it may be biologically, but it isn’t theologically.
---
### Author:  [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2010, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426/16 "2010-12-01T01:46:50Z")
> [@Bricker](#):
>
> The fact that he was born to a Jewish mother, or converted.
>
> ::d&r::
What if he was converted by a Reform rabbi? Does it still count?
---
### Author:  [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426/17 "2010-12-01T01:51:07Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#):
>
> Writers of the Talmud didn’t know that. So it may be biologically, but it isn’t theologically.
Yeah, God wasn’t too sure about how that whole biology worked, so he had them wing it.
---
### Author:  [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2010, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426/18 "2010-12-01T04:20:04Z")
Honey needs Kosher certification to make sure that
a) no non-kosher ingredients were added in processing (e.g., as preservatives or the like)
b) the machinery handling the honey has not been used for non-kosher items that would leave traces behind
c) workers are not bringing non-kosher food into the plant where it could come in contact with the product
and possibly other reasons.
**Annie-XMas** , no reason to be so skeptical about the date honey thing - that is in fact the traditional Jewish interpretation of honey in the Bible, by Biblical commentators who were hardly vegans (e.g., Rashi).
---
### Author:  [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2010, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426/19 "2010-12-01T04:39:58Z")
> [@toadspittle](#):
>
> Yeah, God wasn’t too sure about how that whole biology worked, so he had them wing it.
I’m not sure what you mean. Nobody thinks the writers of the Talmud were divine. Regardless, what they wrote is still considered binding among religious Jews – sort of like the Supreme Court is for the U.S.
---
### Author:  [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2010, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426/20 "2010-12-01T07:37:39Z")
> [@toadspittle](#):
>
> Yeah, God wasn’t too sure about how that whole biology worked, so he had them wing it.
See how many of your ideas about science and the natural world are still accepted 1800 years from now, then get back to me.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-my-honey-kosher/562426.md?page=2)