> Dinks.  The real issue is why are those colonies so small? 

I'm with Kristina here. Also, why try to retain them? The old way of beekeeping was to reduce numbers in fall and only try to carry through the best colonies. It is much easier and more sensible to make nucs and splits in the spring than to try overwintering the laggards. Unless you do it the Brother Adam/Mike Palmer way. 

On the other hand, if you have a very small colony that you really want to save, the best plan is to set it over another colony separated by a queen excluder and an inner cover with the hole open. The bees will drift up from below and build up the small colony. But if the colony is weak because the queen is no good, why bother?

PLB

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