TomOB,
I had a serious back injury last season, and many of my hives went into winter VERY light after a really rainy season and no real care in sept/oct/november. By the time I was able to walk and get around, it was late December. Whatever I could do prior to that I did with the help of 'newbees' that wanted to learn...we didn't get much done as most days I didn't even walk despite unlimited pain meds.
As a result, I used candy sugar to get my bees through this winter, and I had normal (low) losses, even in some late caught swarm colonies in 2 medium supers as well as several 4-frame nucs made late-august.
While it is certainly not the preferred method, it has worked really well for me this year, and next year I'm planning on overwintering with candy boards with honey-b-healthy, even if I am able to pack them away for winter with ample honey stores.
I hope this helps. Last winter my late-caught swarms all starved out in February because I didn't yet know how to feed bees in the winter. I learned it during this past season.
Good luck. The candy recipe is great. email me at
[email protected] and I'll forward it to you.