Are the nectar flows over in your area? Why not make a crop, get a couple strong colonys through the winter, then split in the spring? Alot easier than babying a couple marginal colonys through the winter. Do you have a winter in SC?
I would get them through the winter, put some pollen or pollen sub on them in the early spring, and build them up. Split them leading into the early flow, and away we go.