I don`t winter them "small" cause of the less stores consumed. That is not the case. They need more, two halves, than one whole colony. Also they need a bottom board, a box, frames, foundation or natural comb drawn, medication, an inner lid, an outer cover, transportation, general jumping around them, paying taxes and insurance....
no. Two halves (or something like that) will make more honey next year than one whole colony in late summer/early fall. Also I can make more nucs the following year. By mid-may at the latest one won`t be able to see a difference between a late split and an untouched colony. That is because the curve of build-up is much steeper for a small colony compared to a large one (brood-rearing will start around beginning of march).
And for build-up of the apiary this is a viable way. at least where I am at. and anything warmer. Build-up in fall to a uniform size and a good feed on a small amount of frames and as little space as possible does take some "feeling". I know a guy winters his late nucs on 4 frames. I have done it and it does work. Most beekeepers around here consider this nonsense and I don`t even mention it to my colleagues. The overall thought to winter-size in Germany is: as large as possible. Probably not for all commercial beeks.
As soon as I am up to size, I am gonna winter in larger colonies, maybe just take a frame of brood or two after the flows instead of all the combs. So I can improve on the 20-30 kg of canola a bit. Or I might sell of the surplus nucs, too. Depends on many variables yet. Esp. my future ways of dealing with the mites.
beepro: sounds like bee-heaven you live in. well, for bee-keepers, too.