Paul Nicholson said 
When you break things down into Natural = good and manmade = bad you are oversimplifying a complex situation.
 
I am a hobbyist bee keeper - and do the best I can to do all things "naturally" or "organically": but I don't find that feeding bees sugar - an organic substance - inhibits their progress or diminishes their health.  
 
To Stephans' point - sometimes we need to think about new methods and rethink the methods that we are currently using; however,  it is always a welcomed comment that says "the old way does not work well, we need to be more natural. __Here is documentation on my successful experiment which demonstrates what I claim.__"  When my bee's seemed a little low on stores this winter, I fed them their own honey(not that I recommend the same to other bee keepers or commercial operations.)  I plan to continue to do this.  
 
I do wonder, though, if one can claim that bee venom therapy is 'natural' or 'good for the health of the bees' or if administrating venom therapy via a hypodermic needle is 'natural'.  NOTE: I do not challenge the effectiveness venom therapy, or the practice of administrating it.  I just see an inconsistent application of 'do it natural' ideology for the feeding of bees in the winter.  
 
 
Tim Rich