I have not seen any studies of the impact of acetic acid on capped honey,
but the low vapor pressure, most easily observed in terms of the slow
evaporation rate of the stuff, implies that it is not going to penetrate
cappings.

Pure acetic evaporates at room temp slower than a similar volume of pure
water, and this is about what one would expect, given the vapor pressures
from the reference books.  (10 mm Hg for acetic acid vs 13.5 mm Hg for
water).  The mix of acetic and water in a typical comb fumigation mix is
going to summon up Raoult's Law, which is nothing but "It's proportional"
dressed up in a lab coat - "The vapor pressure of one chemical in a mixture
is proportional to the vapor pressure of the pure chemical at that
temperature and the mole fraction of that chemical in the liquid phase of
the mix".

There's also the polar non-polar aspect of acetic acid in solution with
water. If it dissolves in water, it is "polar".  Polar means hydrophilic, as
opposed to beeswax, which is non-polar (hydrophobic).  Without a very good
vapor pressure, this stuff is not going to make it through the wax.  Oil and
water don't mix.  

The circa 1955 assertion is a non-sequitur in the context of modern Nosema -
"It was considered unlikely that stored honey would be contaminated with
spores, because defecation over stores before they are sealed during the
summer would normally be unlikely", as this would not be the case at all
with Nosema ceranae.  

N. ceranae clearly does continue to infect bees straight through the honey
processing period, and while the "processing" of that honey may filter out
spores, this says nothing of defecation over the open cells after the honey
is "ripe" and while the cells are being capped by worker bees infested with
Nosema.   Yet again, the lore of the ancient days about less
persistent/virulent pathogens give a foggy false hope that can only be
burned off with the sunlight of critical thinking.

I guess this is yet another reason to harvest honey and buy feed, rather
than feed the honey back to bees.  The heating will raise the HMF, and
perhaps create more of a problem for the bees than any Nosema spores in the
honey!

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