>If I keep the bees on the south (mild weather & sunny) side of the house and feed them well with syrup and pollen can I get them to increase over the winter?
I'm not in California and have never kept bees there. Is there pollen all year around? Bees usually go dormant when the days get short enough, but start building up some after they start getting longer again. Probably that would be more there in a mild climate than here in a colder one.