If I had not of placed some dry sugar on the tops of a couple of my hives, they would have starved last January.
after couple of winter months bees are staeving.
You must do something to deminish the consumption. Look, my hives manage with syrup from September to May. Your winter rest starts xx months and food is finish in Janury . Do something!
- Get beestock which stop brooding in time
- restrict the wintering space
- protect from wind
- use insulation if frost is bad like -20C
- close mesh floor in winter
- feed the hive full, so they cap the full
- try to rear wintering colony that it fills the whole box.
TREAT VARROA IN TIME!
DON'T TRUST GOOD LUCK. Prepare hives for worst situations. It is late if the worst has happened.