Yeah ..but not really. Bees need wintering cluster space with empty cells.
Also, you misunderstood about the ivy. I mentioned ivy because it is a late season food source and some years, perhaps I think last year, it is particularly abundant. With your milder autumns now (with the climate warming) and the hive packed with food (doesn't matter what sort of food...it could be Ivy, human intervention with sugar syrup, intertbee, fondant or whatever) the bees haven't got time to eat enough of the stores to create proper cluster space with empty cells (and perhaps also areas for the queen to lay), and then along comes a cold snap (perhaps like in the Oxford valley which is colder than surrounding areas), ...whammo! Trouble. 37 out of 40 colonies gone.