But you wouldn't chuck loads of bales out into the fields 'just in case' either
I think over feeding when space has been reduced for winter actually has an adverse effect in spring .. my bees in poly hives always have some stores left in spring ... but, often by the end of February, the queens are laying quite significant amounts of brood and if the hive is still stuffed with stores from continual and excessive feeding she won't have the space to lay for 'an explosive build up' in spring.
If feeding is going on all winter with fondant on top of a brood box full of stores (and I've even seen beekeepers with a national box and a super left on crammed to the gunnels with stores and STILL under 'Good advice' slapping fondant on top of the frames 'just in case' as they close them up for winter).
Yes .. they will survive and I'm not in favour of starving bees but - it's a matter of balance and judgement - I have fondant in reserve in the unlikely event any of mine manage to eat their way through all the stores or if spring takes a long time to sprung ...you can always add fondant if/when they need it in the new year - but this predisposition for feed feed feed ... it's not what they would have in nature. They will stock the brood box with stores that they need but JBM is right ... given the chance they will continue to store as long as the opportunity is there - it doesn't help the natural order of things.
Yes - you can have a quick look to assess the state of play but then we have the age old mantra about not opening hives until you can do it in shorts and T-shirt. Is it any wonder that new beekeepers are confused with advice (much of which is good if taken in isolation) ? The problem arises when they take all the advice and use it ALL on their bees - following by rote what has been told to them. This forum should be mandatory reading for anyone starting to keep bees - it makes thinking an essential part of keeping bees - something that is sometimes lacking.
As an aside - My labrador used to be the same - he would eat as long as there was food in front of him - Labradors have no control mechanism. A friend of ours with a Lab inadvertently left a sack of dry dog food where the dog could get at it ... he came home to find the sack nearly empty and the dog so completely bloated that he could not even get onto his feet - it was a trip to the vet as they were so worried. Bees are much the same ... except they have the sense to store it.