Helen's were ! - but surely they'll never eat all that ..... or will they?

Time for some hefting !

If you're not sure if they are alive, try putting in the inspection boards in for a few days to see what the bees have been up to.
If they are alive and feeding on their stores, wax debris falling through the varroa floors will be seen on the inspection boards.
Here are some pictures of inspection boards that have been in 3 days.

I reckon the larger the debris, the larger the colony. Also in this picture the large debris pile seems to contain sugar crystals indicating they are eating fondant as well .

Good idea just to monitor varroa towards the end March using the inspection boards anyway