ciely1-
There is still always the option of selling your bees in the late fall - the way some people sell off their livestock. If bees could be eated each winter, like a pig or a chicken, then that would be a little different. But since we don't eat bees, there's only two ways to get rid of them - kill them or sell them. There are many many people that would love to buy your bees, shake them into their own hive equiptment, and keep them over winter. You could maybe even get a better price for them since they would be more established than than a box someone would buy in the spring.
Then turn that money right back into ordering early for packages.
Myself, I live in an area of the US where it's pretty easy to overwinter the bees. So I'd never even consider doing it an other way.
Beth