I have 2 hives here in Kansas City. One hive made it through the winter and is doing great this early Spring. The other hive did not survive the Winter. Interestingly it was what I thought was the stronger hive going into Winter that did not survive. Our Winter this year was not too harsh.
Regarding the dead hive: There was still plenty of honey in the hive. The bees were all dead with a significant pile of bees on the screened bottom board. There was even a spattering of dead capped brood on a few frames. There was uncapped nectar as well. The drawn out comb on the frames looked very good. No sign of any disease, wax moths, or comb destruction.
My question: I have cleaned the hive and have a new bee package on the way. I want to reuse the old frames with drawn comb. I want to put the frames of honey back in the hive. I feel this will give the new package a head start and readily available food stores. Is this a good idea or should I put all new frames in the hive?