not enough honey in TBH for the winter

[ivashka]

I bought top bar hive this weekend from a lady who wasn't really taking care of it.  She said she bought it from another lady in the spring and never havested the honey.  I looked thru the side window and didn't see any stored honey.  It's snowing this weekend and should be in the low 30s.  I put a drop of water on a cute of sugar and pushed it inside thru the entrence and right away they were all over it.  They try to eat from their comb but there is not much honey that I can see thru the window.  I don't want to open it to look inside to see if there is honey on other combs that are not visible thru the window.  Should I be feeding them in this kind of weather or what is the best way for me to help them to get thru the winter? 

[Natalie]

So you have never opened the hive? Did she tell you about how many bars are built out?
Do you have any idea of the size of the colony?
If you really must feed without opening the cover then I guess all you can do is push sugar through the door.
Do you have a mouseguard on the hive yet?
This is tough not knowing what is actually going on inside the hive.
Someone else will chime in on this.

[mtbe]

There is a forum on TBHs. 

http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,25055.0.html