After two days of torrential rain all the blue tit babies in our nest box with a camera are dead ! mum is still sitting on them and dad brings the odd mealworm we put out. Chirps at the bodies and eats the worm himself. So sad.
Having to feed one of my hives today in Essex. Looked at them yesterday and there wasn't a drop of stores in the hive. Will put a fondant patty on as it's forecast miserable weather for the week.
If I just need to make sure they don't starve in a period of bad weather, I use fondant.
It's just easier to manage. It's taken down more slowly, so they don't get quite as tempted to do crazy things with it. As such it needs to be topped up less often. Whack a 1kg block on a nuc and I know I don't have to worry about them for 2 or 3 days.
Horses for courses though, everyone does it differently.