Feed your bees well, but not to the point they cannot raise brood.
Feed with pure, clean, no added extras food. The extras can cause increased need for defecation and if we DO get a bad winter this can cause severe problems.
Pollen dearths and shortages in the UK are not normal. we NEVER feed patties and have proven them to be a waste of money. No improved performance whatsoever by season end.
Poly hives will winter perfectly well without further addition of insulation or wrapping. They DO cluster in them, although possibly not so constantly as in uninsulated wooden hives. A friend experimented with the same boxes we used in Alberta, so severe winter cold, and they came through just fine. No extra insulation, no reduced entrances, no upper ventilation or entrance, no closing off of mesh floor panel.
If you have fed them well enough resist the temptation to go noseying in before the end of February unless you have a good reason to suspect problems. Every opening risks damage, and breaks the bees propolis/wax seal. Not desireable. Hive damaged in mid winter by beekeeper inquisitiveness = hive gubbed. (Well known scientific expression.)
Have 700 poly nucs going into winter again this year, we use no extra insulation, no fondant feeding. Not needed in a UK situation, and they take off like a rocket in spring (you can see some of these on my twitter feed if you wish).
In poly you can throw the text books about feed timing out the window, we successfully feed right through November in hive top feeders even this far north, indeed we still have bees on the moors undergoing heather harvest this week, and they will not be returned off the hills and fed until at least a week from now, even 2 weeks for those headed south. There will be no issues at all.
People panic too much.
I was a sceptic at first, and I know many still are, but poly hives (+nucs) and open mesh floors are a gift for overwintering.
