Rimantas Zujus wrote (with smallt corrections)
 
> I don't know what do you mean with "weak hive". If your colony is really
> weak you should not give them sugar syrup. This is a very exhausting  job
> for the bees. Their wintering becomes worse. We are advised to give sugar syrup
> to strong hives and later to steal some combs with sugar honey for the sake
> of the weak ladies.
 
conventional wisdom from this part of the world (Norway)
 
1. No point over-wintering really weak hives - combine.
2. When feeding for the winter it is even more exhausting for the
bees if you feed them on foundation (as is often recommended so that
they start the spring with new clean comb). In fact here trying do do
this ends in disaster, they just don't build! Exhausted bees don't
last the winter out.
3. Strong hives are often overfed and then some of the sugar frames
taken out to be used as emergency food in the spring for those hives
that run short for one or the other reason. Alternatively they can be
used in nucs etc. as long as one is careful with their overall food
balance.
 
cheers Tony
----------------------------------------------------------------
Anthony N Morgan,
Forsteammanuensis
Institutt for Elektroteknikk
Hogskolen i Sor-Trondelag
N-7005 Trondheim, Norway
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