My experience in helping get hives ready for pollination duties in Eastern Canada (N.S.) has shown that many hives having the
top box in place are practically still honey bound at the mid may period.

This appears to be wasteful in several ways:
The honey has crystallized and is therefore difficult for the bees to use - it is not concrete but hard.
It takes time to remove - by the beekeepers balancing the hives
Unless lots of splits are to be made - the honey is practically lost. Robbing is a possibility, but not recommended for
reasons of hygiene, frames not really being cleared etc.
The honey limits the expansion of the hive if the population starts on the weak side as the number of bees/brood requiring
food from the supplies in the hive is overtaken by fresh supplies e.g.. Dandelion.

The pre winter condition of the hive is paramount to aid survival, and how the actual winter fares is impossible to guess
with great accuracy.
So, hives are either stuffed with sugar, or left with honey.

Are there methods, ideas on how to limit the waste, overcome the problems whilst at the same time ensuring the colony is not
left short of supplies.

Here, in my neck of the woods, hives are not generally fed - the autumn allows adequate supplies, with the last harvest
coming from the sunflowers.
Those with weak colonies in spring have their queens culled and replaced as soon as possible.

Peter

Centre/west France