Jay,
unfortunately there are "no rules of thumb" because of the variability of
exactly those things that you mentioned: temperature, storage time, type of
honey.

Regarding temperature, it is VERY WELL KNOWN that the BEST temperature to
encourage crystallization is 57°F, so a cool basement is a horrible place.
The seed
crystals are microscopic to the human eye, and they can be reduced by heating
the
honey for as short a period of time as possible to 150°F and straining the
honey through a filter type used in a chemistry lab.  This is the procedure
used by the honey packers to prolong the shelf life of the honey, but there
is a penalty to be
paid for subjecting the honey to this treatment.  Some of the natural honey
flavor is
destroyed, some of the natural yeasts are destroyed, and the color is
darkened.

Storage time is also temperature dependent.  Honey kept at 0° to 10° has a
very long
storage time, and honey kept at 80° does not quickly crystallize, but above
80°, you
are getting into that area of yeast loss.

The TYPE of honey is the dominant factor in honey crystallization.  Honey is a
combination of several different sugars, but the overwhelming two predominant
sugars are glucose and fructose.  These two sugars vary in percentage of the
total
based on what floral source the bees collected nectar from to make the honey.¨
In their natural surroundings, glucose is a solid at room temperatures,
whereas
fructose is a liquid at room temperatures.  Hence, if a honey has a high
percentage
of glucose and a low percentage of fructose, these honeys are going to
crystallize
rapidly depending on the variation of percentage difference.   In the U. S.
some of the prominent honeys that are known to crystallize within a few
months are alfalfa,
cotton, goldenrod and rape (canola).  In contrast, honeys that are high on
fructose
and hence are slow to crystallize are yellow clover, gallberry, locust, sage,
and tupelo.

Honey is sooo good, soooo natural, and soooo useful in cooking, it is hard
for me to
figure why anybody wants to "keep it around" very long.

I hope that I have helped.

George Imirie
starting my 69th year of beekeeping in Maryland