Our local Orthodox Rabbi is interested in honey production, and so I invited him to my extraction a couple of days ago. Our discussion of honey elicited a question: observant Jews aren't allowed to eat the products of "unclean" animals and insects. Honey is allowed because the bee doesn't produce honey from its body (like a milk product, for example), but is simply a "carrier" of honey. But, I pointed out to him, bees do add enzymes that change the nectar, so it isn't just a matter of them carrying it in a jug home. The question asked by the rabbi was this: how much bee spit is there in honey? Even Orthodox Jews understand that almost nothing is 100% (though they try for it!), and if the amount is less than 1/60, then they don't worry about it. Honey is considered kosher, so we wondered what that percentage is. (Beeswax is also considered "kosher," by the way, because even though it is a product of a non-kosher insect, it is not considered "food." So whether it's used in cosmetics or chewed to extract the honey and pollen, it is permitted.) I decided not to discuss honeydew honey with him. Thanks for any info! -- ***************************** Lesli Sagan [log in to unmask] *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm