Set honey question

[Newbeeneil]

I had a small spring crop from one of my apiaries which was an island in a sea of rape so I extracted as soon as the rape was over. It was only about 28lb so I thought I would wait for it to granulate and then make some set honey.
Well those bees obviously decided that although they were surrounded by rape they preferred something else as forage because after 5 months the honey was as clear as glass still.
So since I had planned to use it for set honey I decided to use it anyway. So... I read up about the process and as instructed added 3lb (about 10%) set honey from my teaching apiary supplier to the warmed honey, mixed well with a mechanical stirrer and cooled as quickly as possible.
Even when a small sample was cooled in the fridge it took about 7 days to set and the bulk of the the batch took 2-3 weeks to set to a nice spreadable honey.
I have been happily selling this "soft set" honey for the last month or so before I decided to open a jar for my grandchildren's tea. When I tried to get some out of the jar it was like concrete, I had to scrape the surface with a knife to loosen the honey before spreading it. Once worked into a paste it has a lovely fine smooth texture ideal for spreading but I no way can it be described as "soft set"!
Any ideas why this has happened?
Is the fact that it didn't naturally granulate causing a problem?
Did I use too much seed honey..... actually closer to 11% (I was afraid it would not set at all if under seeded.)
Any thoughts gratefully received!
Cheers Neil

 

[Millet]

I had a small spring crop from one of my apiaries which was an island in a sea of rape so I extracted as soon as the rape was over. It was only about 28lb so I thought I would wait for it to granulate and then make some set honey.
Well those bees obviously decided that although they were surrounded by rape they preferred something else as forage because after 5 months the honey was as clear as glass still.
So since I had planned to use it for set honey I decided to use it anyway. So... I read up about the process and as instructed added 3lb (about 10%) set honey from my teaching apiary supplier to the warmed honey, mixed well with a mechanical stirrer and cooled as quickly as possible.
Even when a small sample was cooled in the fridge it took about 7 days to set and the bulk of the the batch took 2-3 weeks to set to a nice spreadable honey.
I have been happily selling this "soft set" honey for the last month or so before I decided to open a jar for my grandchildren's tea. When I tried to get some out of the jar it was like concrete, I had to scrape the surface with a knife to loosen the honey before spreading it. Once worked into a paste it has a lovely fine smooth texture ideal for spreading but I no way can it be described as "soft set"!
Any ideas why this has happened?
Is the fact that it didn't naturally granulate causing a problem?
Did I use too much seed honey..... actually closer to 11% (I was afraid it would not set at all if under seeded.)
Any thoughts gratefully received!
Cheers Neil

I do not know the answer to your Question you have asked but if the honey was still clear and runny after 5 mth it did not have Oil Seed Rape in there..personally i would have just warmed it up and definitely not added a seed..