>Greg & Melinda Holley wrote:
>
> 1. Do I need to be checking my hive now to see if they still have
>enough food/honey?
 
You can open the hive briefly on a calm day, preferably above freezing. A
quick glance down between the frames will tell you if sealed honey remains,
and you can check that the cluster is in contact with sealed honey.  That
being the case, they are in good shape for the time being.  Gently lifting
the rear of the hive off the stand an inch or two will give you an idea of
how much food is left, by the hive's weight.
 
If the bees are not on or adjacent to sealed honey stores, you can feed
them.  In cold weather dry sugar or fondant ("candy") will keep them going
without introducing undesirable moisture in the form of syrup.
 
>
>2. Several people have given me old, dark honey they had for several
>years; is this okay to feed the bees?  if yes, how do you feed it?
 
How much old, dark honey do you have?  The danger of introducing foulbrood
spores is very real, so don't feed that honey!  You don't know where it is
from, or where it's been!  If you have a dark honey source in your area,
you could just blend that honey in with your dark honey next harvest-time.
Some customers prefer dark honey, especially folks who use it for baking or
granola.
 
The age of the honey doesn't matter.
 
If you had honey from your OWN bees, which you knew were completely
healthy, you could feed it back, but supplying dry sugar or candy would be
easier.  Then, too the honey is worth more, so it's better to consume or
sell it!
 
I once tried feeding granulated buckwheat honey (from my bees) back,
figuring I could just spoon some clumps onto the frames.  Buckwheat sells
at very low prices around here as it is very dark and rank.  Since I had
quite a bit on hand, I thought it would be good for supplemental feeding in
this granulated form.
 
Well, due to moisture, and perhaps the warmth of the clusters, the
granulated honey thinned and ran down between the frames onto the bees.  I
lost a few colonies that way.  (If newspaper or cardboard were placed down
under the chunks of honey, it might have prevented this).