Fermented honey in the hives

[efmesch]

My grandson has several hives near cotton fields.  A goodly percentage of his sealed honey from these hives has turned out to be fermented while still in sealed cells.
These frames have been set aside and not extracted so that the honey won't ruin his normal honey..
Question:
what would you recommend doing with the fermented frames?  I suggested using them to feed the bees over the winter,   My assumption is that the fermented honey won't harm the bees and will be used up before spring season comes and new honey is collected.  [Maybe it will make them a bit "happy" over the winter]
All comments/opinions/experiences will be appreciated.

[Perry]

Couldn't he still extract it to make mead?

[efmesch]

I suppose, technically, he could----but mead is not along his line.  He was thinking of putting the honey out for robbing, but I don't like that option.  In general, I don't like to inspire robbing (it teaches bees a bad lesson and can get out of hand,  leading to hive-robbing).  My thinking says "If the honey is not damaging to the bees,  why not control its use for positive purposes?"

[Perry]

I once dumped some fermented honey, about 3 gallons worth, that was high moisture to begin with and I had forgotten about it till the following spring. 

[Riverrat]

Thats a first for me I have never heard of honey fermenting in capped cells.  Very interesting I would think the gasses would push the cells opening

[iddee]

I like your idea. The fermentation won't hurt the bees. The way they work a moonshine still, there would be no bees in the southeast if it hurt them. 

[apisbees]

So it has turned dark I assume. All I have seen ferment has turned dark in color. What causes this? There are 5 different types of sugars in honey, the main 2 are glucose and fructose. glucose granulates and fructose stays liquid. It happens when the glucose granulates, because when it is in liquid state it is 82% sugars and 18% water, when the sugars granulate the 18% water is released and then joins and latches onto the other sugars so the moisture content in the fructose sugars increases to a level that allows fermentation to take place.

[efmesch]

I'll have to ask my grandson about the color----the honey wasn't extracted.  He could smell the fermentaation and put the frames aside.   His experience with cotton honey last year was that it crystalized very rapidly and didn't extract well.