I lifted the lids briefly on my two hives today. Some dead bees on the topbars, and a lot of dead bees on the SBB, but a good, loud humming from the middle. There appears to be plenty of stores left, so I will just keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best!
Good luck!
Since they have plenty of stores, try to avoid the temptation to take a peek too often!
Thanks Two Bees! In addition to what honey they had, I gave them 40 lbs of sugar in syrup in November. I don't plan on opening them up again until late Feb. unless I can't hear them humming.
I talked to a commercial beek a couple of days ago and he said he was feeding thick syrup. I would be really concerned about bringing the brood up too fast. Winter's not over and if the cluster can't keep the brood warm, then they will die. He knows a lot more than I do though. So the next reasonably warm day, I plan to check my hives and put some 2:1 syrup on them.