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I heard from some keepers that they reduced the amount of honey they take and replace with sugared water, since that isn't an adequate replacement and they say it improved the amount of loss in winter quite significantly. Maybe taking all their honey plays a part?

Would be a shame since it is very tasty...

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I was just at a beekeeping association meeting on Monday night and listened to a very experienced beekeeper talk about his wintering practice. He boils 1 quart of water, adds 10 pounds of sugar, and then lets it cool off a bit. From there he pours the syrup onto paper plates to form giant "sugar cookies" that get placed in the hive. Each hive is different, but the extra food helps ensure the bees survive if they run out of their stored honey.

Seems like it's a best of both worlds type of arrangement for him. He gets honey and the bees survive.

From what I understand about the idea of leaving more honey for the bees vs. providing only sugar as a food source and taking all the honey is the lack of nutrition as well as other effects eating pure cane sugar has on the hive. Eating only sugar is believed to weaken the hive and make it more susceptible to other pressures on the hive

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