By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel
CHULA VISTA, California — We all love bee honey. No Rosh Hashanah meal would be complete without it. Yet, in this week’s Torah portion of Shemini, we find ourselves asking a conundrum that has puzzled many rabbinic minds since the days of Late Antiquity.
I am referring to the verse in Leviticus, “But all other winged insects that have four feet are detestable to you” (Lev. 11:23). Maimonides explains,
- Honey made from bees and hornets is permitted. {Some authorities differ on hornets’ honey} The reason is that the bees do not actually make the honey from their bodies. Rather, the bees bring the nectar into their bodies, and then it is collected into their mouths from herbs, which they regurgitate into their hive. The purpose of this enables them to provide themselves with food during the rainy season.[1]
Here is some of the background to the Maimonidean ruling. According to the Talmud in BT Hullin 61a, the rabbis discuss an intriguing question: Can something pure come from an impure source? Or, do we say that whatever comes from an impure source, remains ceremonially impure? On the subject of bee-honey, Rashi offers a different exposition from Maimonides; according to him, “The bees bring into their bodies—they eat from the flowers of the tree, and from this they make honey in their intestines.”
Scientifically speaking—Rashi’s exposition comes a bit closer to a modern scientific explanation. Perhaps Maimonides might consider Rashi’s exposition as an example of a permitted substance coming out of an unclean source, which the Sages ruled remains “unclean.” However, the science does not really support Maimonides’ explanation. However, according to Livescience.com:
- Nectar is a sugary liquid that derives from flowers using a bee’s long, tube-shaped tongue and stored in its extra stomach, or “crop.” {Bees do not have an extra stomach. The crop of a bee is similar to the crop of a bird–MLS}. While sloshing around in the crop, the nectar mixes with enzymes that transform its chemical composition and pH, making it more suitable for long-term storage. Once in the comb, nectar is still a viscous liquid — nothing like the thick honey you use at the breakfast table. To get all that extra water out of their honey, bees set to work fanning the honeycomb with their wings in an effort to speed up the process of evaporation. When most of the water has evaporated from the honeycomb, the bee seals the comb with a secretion of liquid from its abdomen, which eventually hardens into beeswax. Away from air and water, honey can be stored indefinitely, providing bees with the perfect food source for cold winter months. [2]
This explanation is far different from the exposition found in the medieval commentaries, partly because the science of that age did not really understand how bee honey is produced. Ultimately, Rav Sheishet in the Talmud differs from the view and follows R. Yaakov’s opinion that theoretically, were it not for explicit biblical passages permitting honey, bee honey too would have been prohibited as being the product from an unclean source. The passage he is alluding to is from the story of Samson (Judg. 14:6-9; and his famous riddle regarding bee honey to the Philistines).[3] Rav Sheishet evidently felt ambivalent about his colleagues’ explanation as to how honey is produced and felt that given their lack of knowledge on this matter; he could find stronger footing by citing a biblical verse to prove his point.
Among modern scholars, there is a wide consensus that much of the honey referred to in the Bible was not bee honey at all, but is really a sweet syrup that is produced from the fruit of figs, grapes, carobs, and dates. Both kinds are still made in the East and are called dibis (honey) by the Arabs. Hence, the famous expression, “a land flowing with milk and honey” may not be referring to bee honey, but rather to a land blessed with ample fruit.
Despite the logic of the rabbinic discussion, the Torah speaks in the language of humankind, and the verses we mentioned above saw no problem concerning bee honey—despite its remarkable source.
Now you know the rest of the story . . .
[1] MT Hilchot Ma’achalot Assurot 3:3.
[2] http://www.livescience.com/37611-what-is-honey-honeybees.html
[3] For other references to bee honey in the Tanakh, see Ps. 19:11; Prov. 16:24.
Honey bees have six feet, not four. So honey bees are clean. So the rabbinic commentary is irrelevant because it is based on an erroneous assumption. BTW, the honey bee makes honey, not the bumble bee.
–Howard Rubenstein, San Diego
Dr. Rubenstein, thank you for your interesting note. Every question offers us an opportunity in reexamining a given topic.
With regards to your the statement that bees have six feet, not four–let me point out to you that when the Torah speaks about “But all other winged insects that have four feet are detestable to you” (Lev. 11:23), it is referring only to the four back legs and not the two front arms, which a bee uses for gathering pollen.
Secondly, bees are NOT “clean” and if you read the text in Leviticus 11:20-23, which says only certain types of locusts are “clean” … But all other winged insects that have four feet are detestable to you.”
Thirdly, you really should examine the Talmudic source I cited to you, it would greatly expand your understanding as to why this is a relevant and important question.
Fourthly, bumble bees make honey. Unlike honeybees, bumblebees only store a few days’ worth of food, and are much more vulnerable to food shortages.As one person noted in the Garden Forum,
“Bumblebees do in fact make honey, it is a lot harder to harvest than that of honey bees. Bumblebees usually nest in the ground and only have an average of a few hundred to a thousand bees in a colony. Therefore, they don’t produce as much as honey bees do. Also, honey bees normally have anywhere from 6 to 20 thousand bees per colony and aren’t as aggressive and are easier to harvest from than bumblebees. Less work, more product. That’s why you don’t hear of using bumblebee honey. I have tasted bumblebee honey, it’s similar in taste and texture but has a greenish golden tint in color instead of the gold color of honey.”
Hopefully, Dr. Rubenstein, this ought to clarify the matter for you.
One last note, Don Harrison gave the title of the article, “The kosher paradox of the bumble bee.” I named my original article “The Paradox of Bee Honey.” Once I email an article, I have no control over any changes that occur in the title.
Best regards,
Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel
Temple Beth Shalom
Entomologists say bees have six legs (and feet). Rabbis say they have four. Who does one believe?
BTW, commercial honey is made by honey bees. I doubt that Rabbi Samuel celebrates Rosh Hashana with
bumble bee honey.