> > Hard granulated canola honey can be deadly for wintering.  The bees simply
> > cannot deal with it without a lot of heat.  I have seen cells with chunks
> > of 'sugar' in them after the bees have removed what they can and also lots
> > of the white granules of the 'sugar' on the hive entrance when too much
> > granulation is given to a hive.
>
> I presumed all honey used for wintering is granulated except at the
> very center of the cluster. Why would this be different?
 
Ideally, *no* honey used in wintering should be dark or granulated.  In
practice, things often work out differently.
 
Soft granulation is not *too* difficult for the bees to handle, but honey
so hard that people have trouble scraping any off with a hive tool is just
often just too difficult for the bees to manage, particularly those
colonies which are borderline in strength or vigour. Moreover, wintering
clusters are not always 96 degrees F in the centre, particularly when the
bees have no brood.  To make things tougher too, the honey is not usually
in the centre of the cluster anyhow -- it is usually at the edge of the
cluster where temperatures are near the ideal granulating point of honey:
57 degrees F, and under such conditions the honey we are discussing will
be like a rock.
 
Allen