It will. The challenge is to fill the comb with syrup 
It doesnât go into cells easy. The way I did it was to pour syrup from a kettle from height 50-60 cm using a thin stream. This way syrup âbumps outâ the air from cells. Needless to say that the frame should be kept in some container to collect the excess of the syrup that can be put back into the kettle and to avoid the inevitable mess (or to minimise it ).
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Greshambeekeeper well your beehive almost made it and I donât become discouraged.
From your description of the situation, it appears your hive did run short on feed. And the bees were likely under stress for some time before they finally expired. Keep in mind that a beehive needs a âcritical massâ of resourcesâŚnot just for the fact of metabolic demands, but a solid mass surrounding the cluster to help stabilize/maintain temperature/humidity conditions within the hive.
This specific requirement was brought to my attention when I had just a few years of experience beekeeping.
There was a grain farmer in my area that phoned me to say he had a swarm for me to catch so off I went. The swarm had come from his granary building and he described how the bees had been in the granary walls for a few yearsâŚa rarity for my climate. Some years the bees would die out but a new swarm would move inâŚthe bees liked that spot and returned eventually. And he described to me that if he left the granary full over winter, the bees survivedâŚbut if he hauled grain out during the fall/winter, the bees perishedâŚand there was hundreds of pounds of honey left in comb built between the wall studs so feed wasnât the issue. It appeared that those honeybees liked that âcritical massâ the tons of grain provided to stabilize their environmentâŚnot unlike a swarm surviving for years in a tree cavity with thick walls. Iâve seen this set of circumstances repeat itself since my initial experience.
So when the hive depletes all of itâs resourcesâŚand stressful ambient conditions occurâŚthey become very vulnerable dying of starvation in a desperate attempt to keep their surrounding comfortable. Since their surrounding critical mass is gone, itâs a difficult task for the beekeeper to right the colony. If the colony is still a box of bees in population, spraying/pouring a 2:1 sugar solution into adjacent brood comb is very effectiveâŚbut as mentioned above, the hive has to be warm/insulated to process the sugar syrup.
In a situation as yours, I would have been inclined to lay a heavy frame of honey and pollen across the top of the framesâŚusing a spacer on the underside of the feed frame so the bees could access the feed. But that option may not have been available to you.
Another option is to feed the strong hive from belowâŚinstalling a 1X4 rim under the brood boxâŚand placing feed directly under the clusterâŚthen insulating the hive well. Bees seem to like this methodâŚof bringing feed up from below. I use a honey/beebread mixture in a large baggie. This mixture has the advantage of not creating excessive moisture buildup that could be prevalent in spring feeding of sugar syrup.
And in the fall, when in doubt feed generouslyâŚmoney in the bank.
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Solid Food during winter is best.
Sounds like your bees starved. Lifting your hives (hefting) periodically during winter months is good practise to assess weight. If light add bakers fondant for emergency resources.
I put emergency food on all my hives no matter what, 8f they need it its there if not melt it and feed back as syrup when it warms up.
Tough lesson sorry to hear youve lost them.
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Hi @Doug1 ,
How do you extract beebread? The way I know is to put comb through crusher/blower, but the method needs frozen comb to separate beebread from wax and cocoons. The problem is frozen = expensive here.
I just use a hive toolâŚand the plastic foundation provides the sturdy background to allow scraping.
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At Apimondia 2019 I saw a beebread processor/tumbler that produced this productâŚso I think you could be selective in scraping out just cells with beebreadâŚthen freeze it. If it was tumbled when frozen, the wax would come off. Thatâs easy for me as I just have to go outside to complete the process 
âŚmaybe a bit more problematic for you.
Donât feed syrup in winter, it will chill the bees. Instead feed fondant if you can get it. Fondant is a soft sugar, its what bakers use for icing cakes. Put a tub on fondant on top of the frames or over a hole on a crown board. You can check that they are taking it and replace it as necessary.
Bees donât need pollen substitutes to survive. Sugars are whatâs important.
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Thanks for all the helpful information!!
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