The recent discussion reminds me of research done by Dr Basil Furgala,
   with pollen traps.
 
   He found that hives with pollen traps capped their honey at a higher
   moisture content than hives without. When I asked him why the bees'
   mechanism for capping only "ripe" honey was not working, he said that
   the capping process is not directly driven by moisture content. There is
   apparently more involved, including the rate at which honey is being
   brought into the hive. So although "capped" is usually associated with
   "ripe"  = less than 17 % moisture or so, sometimes the 2 effects are
   separated, ie ripe honey  (15 % or less moisture) left uncapped, or high
   moisture honey (19 + %) being capped.
 
   I suppose the bees requirements for storing honey are not as rigorous as
   some would like to imagine.
 
   Regarding the donation of the half comb cassettes for sale: perhaps one
   could consider a sale of them to someone who will market them carefully,
   then you could donate the proceeds. I know it reduces the yield by the
   cost of marketing, but I can imagine some "once premium" comb honey
   being rendered worthless by inexperienced handling.
 
   Honey will essentially not granulate when frozen (deep freeze), but will
   granulate readily if stored only "cool" (slightly less than 50 F., 10 C)
 
 
   Kerry Clark, Apiculture Specialist
   B.C. Ministry of Agriculture
   1201 103 Ave
   Dawson Creek B.C.
        V1G 4J2  CANADA          Tel (604) 784-2225     fax (604) 784-2299
   INTERNET [log in to unmask]