Thank you all for your advice on the wintering practices.  I checked out my 7 hives yesterday and discovered that I now have unfortunately 5.  (As you can tell, I have a small apiary, built from a few caught swarms and colony extractions around the area.) I have a unique situation in my area being one of very few "overt" beekeepers.

The 5 colonies looked active and the temp came up to about 40 in full sunlight around 12 noon yesterday.  One hive even had one little girl flying around wondering what the heck I was doing.  ( I was happy to see this!)

To feed my bees before winter came I made grease patties with Honey-B Healthy in them.  The surviving colonies seemed to have ate well of them but the other two, although seemingly well populated, did not.  One hive lost had some capped honey left so I gave this to one of the surviving colonies.

The only issue I've had this year is with small hive beetles.  I'll hit them hard before the spring thaw and treat the ground around my hives after I elevate the boxes.

Does anyone have advice on homemade ways to continue to feed my remaining colonies other than using the patties?

Thanks again and Happy New Year!!

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