Dave Hamilton wrote:
>
> We were asked last night if our honey was kosher.  Searching the net does
> seem to give me a list of what makes honey kosher or non-kosher.  Anyone know?

It appears that honey is kosher.

From a search:

http://www.ohr.org.il/ask/ask018.htm#Q1

(Ask the Rabbi)

Why is honey Kosher?
Balint from Grinell in Iowa writes:
I have the following question that no one could answer yet:
Why is honey Kosher? I thought that the product of non-Kosher animals
was not Kosher as well. Bees are not Kosher, so why is honey Kosher?
I appreciate your time and hope you know the answer.
Thank you,

Dear Balint,
The Mishna in Tractate Bechorot states:
"That which comes from something which is Tameh [non-Kosher] is Tameh,
and that which comes of that which is Tahor
[Kosher] is Tahor." So you were right, Balint-the product of a
non-Kosher animal is not Kosher. So why is bee-honey Kosher?
The Talmud in the same Tractate quotes a Beraita (a Halachic teaching
from the time of the Mishna) which says:
"Why did they say that bee-honey is permitted? Because even though they
bring it into their bodies, it is not a product of their bodies [it is
stored there but not produced there]."
All the Sages of the Mishna agree with this ruling. One of them, Rabbi
Yaakov, disagrees with the reasoning. He claims that bee-honey is Kosher
based on his interpretation of Vayikra 11:21. According to him, the
verse prohibits one to eat a flying insect, but not that which is
excreted from it.

Maimonides codifies bee-honey as being Kosher, as does the Shulchan
Aruch.

You may wonder: How could one even think that bee-honey is not
Kosher-the Torah refers to the Land of Israel as "a Land flowing with
milk and honey"! Certainly the Torah would not choose a non-Kosher
product as a means for describing the beauty of the Land of Israel! This
may come as a surprise, but the honey mentioned in the verse about "milk
and honey" is not bee-honey-rather it is fig-honey. The Talmud in
Tractate Berachot tells us that another verse "It is a Land of wheat,
barley, grapes, figs and pomegranates-a Land of olives and honey"-is
referring to date-honey.
Sources:
Tractate Bechorot, pages 5b, 7b.
The Codes of Maimonides, Laws of Forbidden Foods 3:3.
Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah, 81:8.
Tractate Megillah, page 6a, Rashi.
Chumash, Book of Devarim, 8:8.
Tractate Berachot, page 41b, Rashi.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, ME