Friday, August 25, 2017

death - Is honey extracted from a dead bee kosher?


Bees themselves are not kosher, but their honey is. The honey is taken from the hive. If I found a bunch of dead bees and I cut them open and extracted the honey from the body, can I eat this?



Answer



The Encyclopedia Talmudis has a complete article on bee honey (under dvash) and why it is kosher. As part of the article it shows the difference between bee honey and milk of a nonkosher animal. While nectar is carried in the "honey stomach" of the bee to the hive, it is converted by "external" processing into honey. The article pointed to by @Shokhet shows that the nectar is mixed with saliva and regurgitated. It is not digested and absorbed into the body of the bee. Milk on the other hand is considered as if it is derived from the "blood" of the animal. That is by "internal" processing. It is created from the digested nutrients within the body of the animal.


As far as the particular question, honey is not found in the bodies of bees (unlike milk from cows) and therefore the question itself does not apply.



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