In light of modern science, why is bee honey still kosher?

Question

My understanding of why bee honey is kosher is because the talmud says that the honey is not a by-product of the bees. They simply store the nectar in their body to transfer it and then expel it, turning it into honey. Since it's not a by-product of a bug, it is kosher.

However, modern science has revealed that when the nectar is in the bees body, an enzyme (?) is released, causing the honey making process to begin. Since this enzyme is integral to the creation of honey, and the bee is mixing its "juices" so to speak with the nectar, shouldn't we now declare bee honey non-kosher? Why are there no pushes for this? Is it because the enzyme is invisible to the naked eye? Don't get me wrong, I love honey and want it to remain kosher, I just want an explanation in light of modern science.

Answer 1

According to Halacha we follow Rav Sheishes's view (bechoros 7b) who holds like Rabbe Yaakov (the Tannah) that the reason honey is kosher (even if the bee extracts part of its flesh into the honey as part of the process - Rabeinu Gershom) is a Gzeiras Hakosuv (by Hashem's command) and not like the opinion who says that the reason for its permissiblity is 'because the bees store it in their bodies but do not drain it from their bodies'. (See Beis Yosef Yoreh Day'ah end of Siman 81, and in Baeir Heitev #1 that we follow Rav Sheishes.)

Answer 2

My last answer wasn't clear, so although I am loath to rewrite answers that have been voted on already, I'll try to make this a bit clearer.

The Talmud has two opinions as to why bee honey is Kosher. Only one of them relies on the way in which bees make honey. The other says it is a "gezeras hakasuv" - an arbitrary distinction made in the Torah - which would mean it would be permitted even if it was an excretion from the bee like milk is from a cow.

The identification of the bee enzymes involved in honey production does not fundamentally alter the understanding of how honey was made. It obviously wasn't the pure nectar, even 2000 years ago, as only bees made it into honey. In fact, according to the opinion that bee honey is kosher because of the way bees produce it, shellac would also be Kosher (according to Rav Moshe Feinstein, at least).

The principle that excretions from a non-Kosher animal are themselves non-Kosher is limited by two concepts: "Pirsha Balma" - that what is excreted is not food, essentially. Bees wax may fall into that category, but the classic example is urine, I believe.

A more extensive treatment of the subject can be found here, which specifically discusses the enzymes of the cow stomach used for Rennet being different than the actual flesh. So even according to the opinion that it is the way the bee processes honey that renders it kosher, the fact that an enzyme from the bee is involved in the process does not change the conclusion. In fact, it is unlikely that it even changes the understanding from the Talmud, it just gives it more specificity and detail to identify and name specific enzymes and their function.

Answer 3

"Enzymes are protein molecules in cells which work as catalysts. Enzymes speed up chemical reactions in the body, but do not get used up in the process. Almost all biochemical reactions in living things need enzymes. With an enzyme, chemical reactions go much faster than they would without the enzyme." - Definition

Thus the bee is not changing the nectar into honey - apparently it is just speeding up the process. It's enzymes do not become part of the honey. Using this reasoning it should be kosher.

Answer 4

Since it is an enzyme and not the honey it remains kosher to my understanding. But the Ramban did say that some rabbis were wrong. This is not referring to the honey being kosher. Just food for thought.

Answer 5

You ask, "In light of modern science, why is bee honey still kosher?"

Maimonides once stated, "Knowledge of the Divine cannot be attained except through knowledge of the natural sciences", so your question is a fair one.

My only explanation is that Halachic law has often contradicted science, and has relied on re-interpretation of Torah to resolve conflicting data.

Case in point, biological evolution has been established by science as an irrefutable process, yet the Torah abounds with contradictions to this. Modern rabbinical thought ages the 7 days of creation into metaphorical days "or ages", and some rabbinical thought believes there were "pre-creation" worlds that G-d destroyed - this explain scientific facts such as the age of the dinosaurs which was devoid of humans.

Another example - archaeological and linguistic anthropology has endeavored to show the Hebrews never lived in Egypt, but that their ancestral and linguistic heritage is purely in Canaan. In this case, the approach has been to simply dismiss the science. I suppose a similar approach would be taken with regard to the kosher status of honey.