Last winter I was able to keep all three of my hives alive during the winter by feeding them honey as a supplement. I have tried sugar water and pollen patties with no success. Honey seemed to be the ticket. Go figure.
Today I fed the first of the honey to our bees, one large batch per hive. The honey is open fed, basically shoved into the back of the hive where the bees can get to it. I’m sure there is a better way, but not without buying some contraption I don’t want to buy. I had to cut out some comb to make room for the honey but the bees will rebuild it next spring.
I’m not sure why the bees sometimes don’t put enough honey away. We are going to put in a pollinator patch near our pond next year to help but I don’t think our bees suffer from lack of opportunities. Anyway, the honey is loaded and the bees are already putting it merrily away. The next batch will get loaded in December when we get a warm day.
Are you sure you did not “take” to much honey from the hive instead of the bees not putting enough away for the winter ??
I think they need 50 to 60 pounds left in the hive for the cold winter months,