Machshirin, Chapter 6, Mishnah 4. Throughout this masechta we have been speaking about liquids that give food hechsher l'kabel tumah, making it susceptible to tumah. Only now does the Mishnah finally spell out which liquids those are.
"Shivah mashkin." There are seven liquids that accomplish hechsher:
- Tal, meaning dew
- Mayim, ordinary water
- Yayin, wine
- Shemen, oil
- Dam, blood
- Chalav, milk
- Devash devorim, bees' honey
These seven are the complete list. If a food comes into contact with any of them, it is thereby made susceptible to receive tumah. The Rav works through the pasuk and shows how each of the seven is derived from it.
Honey of hornets
"Devash tzira'im tahor umutar b'achilah." Honey produced not by bees but by hornets or wasps is tahor, meaning it is not counted among the seven liquids and does not confer hechsher l'kabel tumah. The mishnah adds that it is also permitted to be eaten.
The Rav points out that this is one of those unusual cases in halachah where the creature itself and its product part ways: the insect is forbidden to eat, yet what emerges from it is fit for consumption. The honey may be eaten even though the wasp that made it may not.