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yep. this winter you will most likely have to supplement their feed a little (remember that they can get hydration from sugar syrup, which doesn't freeze as easily as pure water). but, when they make it through their first winter, you can breathe a lot easier!
I'm thinking very seriously about not supplemental feeding. I'll have to give it some thought, but I'm trying to develop bees that function much like in the wild. Wild bees do not get supplemental feed and I would suppose many of them may die of starvation. And some may live to reproduce more of the kind of bees that survive in tough conditions....these are the bees I most want to promote and keep.
I may wind up losing the whole hive...which is an accepted risk for me and I will slog on with my experiment in finding hardier bees than the ones people are now tending. I want survivors on my place...be it bees, chickens or sheep. Keep the best and let the rest go...eventually you have only the best.
I'm willing to devote money and time to this kind of husbandry as it pays off in the long run and creates a more sustainable creature...which is something the world really needs.
I see too many pampered animals that allow weaker specimens to carry on their genetics(sheep, goats, bees, cattle, dogs, cats, chickens, etc.)...in the wild this is not usually the case and that is for a reason. Survival of a species depends on the strongest surviving, not the weakest.
Like to add , with the wild bees, nobody robs there hives. If you remove honey and they can't replace the store in time for winter, not the hives fault. Depend on weather and etc. In that case they need fed.
Most strong hives do built a surplus.
