Thanks to everone for the suggestions about crystallised honey.  However
I haven't done anything!  That's not because I don't value the ideas
but I need to get the winter feed on first.  In the UK it's usual to
take off all the honey rather than leave some on for the winter.  Also,
I prefer to work with a single brood chamber.  (There is still just
enough room for all the winter stores required.)  What this means is
that feeding is essential more or less as soon as the last of the supers
are removed.  The justification is purely economic.  I can buy sugar at
about 30p per pound but sell honey at between 1.50 and 1.80.
 
Putting the supers under the brood chamber sounds like a good idea.  I
must try that sometime.  The ideas for creating a clustering space also
make sense but isn't there a risk of wild comb being built?  I've had
problems when I've put cappings back to be cleaned in a feeder with
similar volume to a super.  I suppose it depends on how long you leave
them.
 
That brings me to my final point.  At one time, after extraction I used
to put my supers back onto the hive over the crown board to be cleaned
up.  It only took a day or two to get all the wet stuff off although I
often left them for a week.  (I stopped doing this for a number of
reasons, none of which are particularly important for this discussion.)
What I did notice was that it took much longer for any crystallised
honey to be removed.  Indeed, even if left on for a week, the bees
usually made very little impression on it.  I always assumed this was
because extra water was required and, since the bees didn't bring it
up, it had to be absorbed from the air thus setting a limit on the
rate that the crystallised honey could be removed.  That was one of the
reasons why I asked for suggestions.  I didn't expect to be able to get
away just with putting the supers back on top of the hive.
Any comments?
 
--
Malcolm Roe                            Phone  :  +44 442 230000 ext 5104
Crosfield Electronics Ltd              Fax    :  +44 442 232301
Hemel Hempstead, Herts. HP2 7RH, UK    E-mail :  [log in to unmask]
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