topping up

Hola, y'all
I've got a mead that I've got in the racking phase right now, taking it off the lees about once a month and she's clearing up nicely.

Seeing as how every time one racks, one inevitably loses a small amount of precious fluid, would it be legit to top up that small amount lost with boiled water that had been allowed to cool, or should I just leave it as is until bottling?

Not a good idea. You don't want to water down the mead and risk contaminating it just for volume. Leave it be...

Best bet in the future is to primary in a larger vessel and save the extra... I made a 6 gal batch.. bottled the extra gal in 2 half gal bottles with their own airlocks... they were small enough to place in the fridge to help clearing.. then i just used them to top up whenever i racked....
Also mead taking so long to age.. I bottled some of it in small 3 oz bottles for tasting every 5 or 6 months without having to open a large bottle..

SpamDog