I am puzzled by this thread -- seems to agree with the original poster's statement that bottling should have taken place within 24 hours and the honey at issue in the post must now be dried out or fed back to the bees. I never bottle that fast. For one thing, the air has not risen to the surface that quickly to produce clear honey for bottling.
When I harvest, I drain the honey into 5 gallon food grade buckets and do not bottle until I am ready to use the honey. I kept some of last summer's honey this way for over 6 months and had no problem bottling it in early Spring. It was not fermented and did not crystalize either. I believe that crystalization will take place faster in a bottle than in a bucket but if that is not true, I will bottle sooner in the future. Hope someone with experience on this issue will comment. Thanks.
When I harvest, I drain the honey into 5 gallon food grade buckets and do not bottle until I am ready to use the honey. I kept some of last summer's honey this way for over 6 months and had no problem bottling it in early Spring. It was not fermented and did not crystalize either. I believe that crystalization will take place faster in a bottle than in a bucket but if that is not true, I will bottle sooner in the future. Hope someone with experience on this issue will comment. Thanks.
