The syrup won't freeze unless it gets REALLY cold, but sugar will precipitate out during a long cold spell.

I know what you are going through, I need to take a look in my hive, it's getting light again and I probably need to make up another candy board, they seem to have eaten the one I put on in the fall. Crazy winter.

I wouldn't put syrup on until it gets reliably warm enough for the jar to get above 50F in the daytime, else they won't take it, and yes, temperature fluctuations can cause syrup to be forced out into the hive.

If it's warm enough, you can always pull some comb and pour cold 2:1 syrup into the cells and put the comb back on.

Peter

 

How long is it for you til bees NORMALLy are making a living off dandelions or whatever? Is it past the time where the bees won't have flying weather regularly? If the extra water in syrup is not going to cause them to blow up with dysentery, then feed syrup in a zip lock bag on top of the top bars in a shallow super or feeder rim. The bees keep the syrup warm enough to take and they will drain the baggie in no time. But only do it if the bees can get out and fly regularly now. Here, they can't so I wouldn't consider it yet. In a couple or three weeks I would. Here. You are in a lot warmer country than I. If you think they are starving, do it anyway.

 

I pull comb and fill with sugar. Or just put in a frame feeder with HFCS syrup.

 

I would use the jar over the hole method, I've never used the baggy trick but if the hive is going to starve, anything is better than nothing. You say you have more than one hive so perhaps one has a few extra combs of honey you could shift to the lighter ones. You should be able to start serious feeding in a couple weeks. I prefer devision board feeders and one good trick in early spring is to move the feeder from the wall of the hive to right next to the cluster. You should move it back to the wall position once it gets warmer. Another help is to put a pollen pattyy on top of a hungry colony, there is a lot of corn syrup in the patties as well as the dry material. One word of warning, once you start pollen patties, you will shortly need to keep syrup in the feeders as brood development will start and the colony will need a lot of food to continue its rapid spring buildup.

 

My thoughts are that if the jars drip a bit that the granulated sugar (most of the colonies still have sugar directly below the opening) will absorb the syrup and make it more attractive for them to consume also. Most of this week the highs will be in the 50's. I'm hoping that the ambient temperature along with the warmth generated by the bees will make the syrup usable.