Bee Honey and Royal Jelly in Halacha

Are bees kosher to eat? No! so why may we eat honey?

Thank you for your question.

This is an excellent question and will give us an opportunity to see how modern scientific discoveries align with teachings found in the Talmud, written so many years ago.

I may even add we find that milk that is from an impure animal is also impure and forbidden to eat since we have a general rule brought in tractate Bechorot (page 7b)

תלמוד בבלי מסכת בכורות דף ז עמוד ב

אמר להו רב ששת - תניתוה: היוצא מן הטמא - טמא, והיוצא מן הטהור – טהור

Rav Sheshet said to them, we have learned; that food which comes from an impure animal is impure, and food which comes from a pure (Kosher) animal is pure.

Based on this, milk or even eggs that come from an impure animal or bird is impure and therefore not kosher.

One may ask, what is the difference between milk and honey if what comes from an impure animal is rendered impure? So, honey that is produced by a bee, which is an impure insect, should also be impure.

Although we find written in the Torah (Deuteronomy Chapter 8 Pasuk 8 ) when praising Erets Yisroel the Torah lists the seven special fruits of the land, called the ‘Shivat Ha’minim’;

דברים פרק ח, ח

(ח) אֶרֶץ חִטָּה וּשְׂעֹרָה וְגֶפֶן וּתְאֵנָה וְרִמּוֹן אֶרֶץ זֵית שֶׁמֶן וּדְבָשׁ :

"A land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey ."

The commentary’s explain that the honey mentioned in the verse refers to dates so blessed they are filled with honey.

דברים פרק כו, ט

וַיְבִאֵנוּ אֶל הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה וַיִּתֶּן לָנוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת אֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבָשׁ

The Gemara in Tractate Megillah explains that this describes when a goat eats dates off the tree, it becomes so full of milk that it flows freely from its udder, and while it is chewing the dates, honey spills out of its mouth and mixes with the flowing milk, creating a stream of milk mixed with honey.

From all of the above, we do not find in the Torah that eating bee's honey is permitted.

So, in order to have a clear understanding of this Halacha, we need to first analyze the way milk and honey are made.

We know that the cow eats grass, which then goes through the digestive system to break down the food. This is done by passing through four stomachs, and then the nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream and carried to the udder, where the cow combines the nutrients to make milk.

The bee has a completely different process of producing honey;

The bee has two stomachs, one to digest its food, and one solely for preparing honey, which is called the 'honey stomach.' So, when the bee extracts nectar from a flower, it isn’t digested at all, rather, it is stored in the 'honey stomach.' The bee then produces an enzyme that is added to the nectar, and after about thirty minutes, it will turn into honey. Then, the bee will spit it out and place it in a honeycomb cell.

Now we can study the Gemara on this subject, and based on what we have just learned, we will gain a clear understanding.

תלמוד בבלי מסכת בכורות דף ז עמוד ב

מפני מה אמרו דבש דבורים מותר - מפני שמכניסות אותו לגופן, ואין ממצות אותו מגופן

Tractate Bechorot 7b:

Why did they say that bee honey is permitted? Because although (the bees) bring it into their bodies it is not produced from their bodies.

Now we can understand with what we learned above the depth of this piece of Gemarah, that although the bee takes in the honey since it is not digested by the bee and is a complete external function the honey it produces is not called יוצא מן הטמא – טמא

There is a second opinion brought in the Gemara above, the opinion of Rabbi Ya’akov, that the reason why honey is permitted is because it is learned from a deduction from a Passuk and is considered a Gezeirat Ha’katuv.

Royal Jelly:

Royal jelly is rich in protein and vitamins and can be bought in various health stores however according to the above, royal jelly, which is produced by nurse bees' glands, would be forbidden according to halacha since it has been digested by the bees and therefore would be forbidden under the rule that what is produced by an impure animal is not kosher.

Wishing you a sweet new year.

1. Talmud Bavli, Tractate Bechorot, 7b.
2. Torah, Deuteronomy, Chapter 8, Possuk 8.
3. Torah, Deuteronomy, Chapter 26, Possuk 9.