Robert Johnson comment to my post: "I already use sugar cakes as well. The question was not aimed at feeding or emergency feed, rather, is there a positive effect on brood rearing for colonies of two frames or less in January and February. The goal is to promote early brood rearing from marginal colonies. I haven't seen noticeable brood stimulation from hard sugar cakes since using them the past three or four seasons, but am curious about liquid feed at lower than recommended temperatures."

I'd suggest reading ALL of Randy's website posts titled "Fat Bees".  Key points ...

"the colony is dependent upon pollen previously stored in the combs, or upon midwinter foraging, to provide enough protein for early brood rearing.  Successful wintering is dependent upon the last rounds of bees emerging in the late summer/fall having adequate pollen available in the broodnest.

...feeding syrup to a colony without a pollen flow may be counterproductive—if the bees are forced to dig into their vitellogenin reserves, you may actually increase colony protein stress."

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