Hi all. This is where we are at with feeding sugar.We have have some nice days recently here in upstate NY USA zone 4,with sun and temps in the 40's(f),with good bee flight.As usual,we make the rounds of the colonies to check for stores etc.This year we had 15hives out of 150 that were light on stores and gave each a 5# bag of sugar.Most yards are accessable only by sled due to the snow cover,and sugar is the lightest/easiest way to go.We will check again in 2-weeks. These hives were light on stores for 1 of the following reasons-warmer early winter weather,improper strain of bees or error in the amount of honey left on for winter.Possibly all of the above.At least these hives will be alive and prospering due to our intervention and not deadouts. On another topic,one of our honey customers said they saw on TV a gardening show where the host extolled the use of feverfew blossoms at the hive entrance for organic mite control. Has anybody had any experience or control with this method? Best regards to all, Nick