One of the classic traditions of Rosh Hashana is enjoying apples dipped in honey – a physical manifestation of the traditional wish for a happy and sweet new year. The liquid half of this treat occupies a unique space in kashrut, the dietary laws expounded in the Torah.

Jessica Anderson, Portland’s Regional Security Director for Secure Communities Network, also serves as the public affairs representative for Portland Urban Beekeepers. She explained that honey is the only kosher food product that is produced by a non-kosher animal. It’s not honey’s only unique property.

“It’s the only food that never expires or goes bad,” Anderson said. “They have found 5,000-year-old honey that is completely edible.”

Honey of that vintage would date back to around the time bees were first kept in human-built hives for the purpose of honey production. Today, such human-managed apiculture (human management of bees) is essential to almost all other forms of agriculture – in a way, bees are responsible for both parts of Rosh Hashana’s signature snack.

“Anecdotally, it is said that one out of every three bites of food are from a bee,” Anderson said. “Without bees, we do not have the infrastructure right now to pollinate the food that we need.”

Anderson has been a hobbyist beekeeper for the last six years, a fulfillment of something she’s been interested in since a young age.

“I grew up just loving bee boxes. I love the look of bee boxes. I loved seeing them in fields,” she said. “A friend asked randomly if I wanted to do a beekeeping class over a weekend, and I’ve been beekeeping ever since.”

It’s rewarding, to be sure, but it’s also a lot of work.

“It does ebb and flow over the course of the year in terms of what they need,” Anderson elaborated, “but one really needs to go in thinking that they are a steward of this animal, which is considered livestock, and they do need care and attention.”

Starting in January, beekeepers make sure their hives have enough honey stores to finish out the winter, supplementing with sugar water as needed. As spring comes on, beekeepers ensure that the colony has enough room and that mite populations are under control. The Varroa Mite, which aptly bears the Latin name Varroa destructor, is a parasite which transmits a number of viruses to bees and can, unchecked, destroy a colony within a couple years.

If the bees get too crowded in their boxes, they’ll create another queen, who will take half the colony and look for a new home in a process called “swarming.” The most obvious sign of this is huge clumps of bees on fence posts, tree limbs and, occasionally, car fenders.

“They’re very docile. They’re not likely to sting at all during that time. That’s why on Instagram you’ll see people pick them up by the handful,” Anderson said. “As a beekeeper, there should be that sense of responsibility to try to prevent your hives from swarming, because every time there’s a clump of bees in the tree, they might be going into someone’s chimney. It’s just not a neighborly event to have happen.”

The season of maximum activity for bees begins when blackberries start to bloom – Anderson explained that blackberry flowers are the number one source of nectar for bee colonies in the Portland area – and starts winding down after the summer solstice, when the days begin to shorten. Monitoring conditions, mites and honey stores heading into winter requires year-round regular attention.

“It’s not just putting bees in the box and collecting the honey,” Anderson said. “It requires constant attention. It’s the kind of thing where you can try to plan around your life, but the reality is sometimes, when your bees need something, you’ve got to be there to do it.”

There’s also the matter of ensuring that bee boxes don’t force out native pollinators, but research from the Honey Bee Lab at Oregon State University has shown that with the Portland area’s abundance of vegetation, there’s plenty of space and nectar for native and human-managed bees.

“We are not competing with native pollinators here in the Portland area and so we can both enjoy the fact that we’re sending pollinators out there and enjoy the products,” Anderson said.

Those products include wax, which can be made into candles, bee pollen and a resin-like substance known as “bee glue.”

Of course, there’s also the honey. Anderson brings some of the honey from her hives to the Federation board meeting before the High Holy Days each year to dip apples in, connecting her hobby to her Jewish community each fall as the Jewish year winds up and her bees start to wind down.

If you find yourself interested in this kosher (but not vegan) food and the creatures that make it, Portland Urban Beekeepers has resources, classes and a club apiary in North Portland near Cathedral Park.

“We have an apiary where you could come out and spend time in a bee yard in order to get a better sense of the time and attention and resources that it requires,” Anderson said.

To learn more, visit portlandurbanbeekeepers.org.