I sell honey, certified kosher, to area synagogues for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.  There
is a ritual among Jews of dipping apples in honey during their New Year observances.  I also give
many presentations around this time of year to their Hebrew students, talking about the history of
bees and beekeeping.
  I found a local "mashgiach", a rabbi who is in the business of certifying that foods and
establishments that sell food adhere to the rules of Kashrut.  Originally I contacted each of the
two major organizations that perform this service, the Conservative Union and Kosher Overseers of
America.  Both organizations wanted extremely steep fees up front, which were not economical for me
at all.
  These organizations authorize the use of their "hechsher", a symbol like the circle with the "U"
in it, that certifies the products as kosher, and further identifies the product as being meat,
dairy, or parve (neutral).  As prior contributors have said, honey is a parve product, and may be
eaten with dairy or meat, but should be stored separate.  If honey comes into contact with a pot
used for meat, for example, then it is a "meat" food and can only be eaten as such.
  First, keep in mind that for many Jews, particularly reform Jews, honey is considered
intrinsically kosher, and no supervision is required.  In fact many reform Jews are uncomfortable
with the role that the mashgiach has in more traditional Jewish groups. For orthodox Jews this is
not the case, of course, and they will be very reluctant to eat your honey unless they feel
comfortable that you have followed the steps needed to maintain Kashrut observance. Even if they are
comfortable, it would be awkward for them to offer your honey to their friends unless it has a
hechsher that is acceptable to them.
  Between the reform and the orthodox groups (which would include the Lubatvitcher and Hasidic
movements) are the conservative Jews, who observe the dietary laws, but are not as strict as the
orthodox, nor as relaxed as the reform groups.
  The basic rules are simple: Use utensils purchased new, and used only for honey extraction.  Keep
your equipment and extraction area as clean as possible.  If you warm honey for filtering, that
means the pots must only be used for honey. You are asking for trouble if you use pots used for meat
or dairy as part of your extraction and bottling process.
  Decide who you customers are going to be.  You can ask a conservative rabbi to be mashgiach, and
come and supervise.  He or she may ask you to take certain steps, like filling pots with boiling
water before using, or may ask you to clean certain items in their presence.  They may not want a
fee, but I believe they are offering a service and some payment, if only a token payment, is
appropriate.  In my opinion, you may give them honey but the payment, even a token one, should be
strictly a separate transaction.   This avoids the appearance of a conflict of interest.  I worked
with a conservative rabbi who was eager to supervise at my invitation, because he wanted to show his
congregation that he had an active interest in getting them to adhere to the dietary laws.
  Whomever you select as "mashgiach" you should endeavor to make into an expert on bees and honey.
  Finally, a word about comb honey.  If you prepare it for immediate consumption I believe it is
Kosher, and could be subject to supervision if you wanted to sell it to a wider group. However, if
you take the step of freezing it before selling it, as is the customary practice, I do not believe
it can be regarded as Kosher.  The act of freezing assumes the likely presence of wax worm eggs,
which are certainly non-kosher.  There is historical evidence that wax worms did exist in Biblical
times, but I can find no references to the historical preparation of comb honey.  I believe the only
way to regard it as being kosher is to store it at room temp past 30 days.  If there are eggs and
they hatch, it's non-kosher.  If they don't hatch, it is OK.  This is not a rabbinical
determination, but my own opinion based on the rules of Kashrut as I have studied them.
/Curtis Crowell
New Jersey