>So today I was popping lids, laying in a pollen/protein patty, covering it with a sheet of newspaper and adding about 10 pounds of dry sugar of emergency. Bees looked good, but quite hungry.

I've noticed a big difference between what southern beekeepers and northern beekeepers consider adequate winter feed.  Whenever I look into southern hives in winter they look to me to be just days or weeks from starving by our standards in the north.  

I realise there are good reasons, like having them ready to transport to California without overloading the truck, not wanting to have to pull feed in spring, and just the fact that one can get away with it.

Although, for us, just ensuring there is enough feed to last until good flying and/or feeding weather is the primary goal, a secondary effect is that having all that feed settles the bees down to the point where consumption on a strong hive is only 1/4 lb a day or so.

We have found that hives with less feed are more active and actually consume more, and hives which are being fed in winter also do more poorly than one might expect.  

For us, the time to feed is in early fall, then in spring when the pollen starts.

Don't know if that applies in the south.

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