how about combining these hives now?

[octagon]

I picked 2 hives up that were about 10 miles apart, they had not been bothered for a yr, they just had the brood chambers, top covers and bottom boards setting on 4 bricks. I straped the hives together and loaded them into my station wagon, side by side, they just fit in the focus. I got them home and put a new screened bottom board on some cement blocks and put the hives on them. I also put a can of sugar water on top of an inner cover as i really didn't know what was inside for food. the owner told me that there was no bees in one of them and a few were hanging out near the other.. He went thru a divorce last yr and got custody of the kids and bla-bla, not time left for bees. Well i got a bonus because there were bees in both, one full and the other like a new package and both had eggs.
 the next day after they had settled down a little i took the hives apart and cleaned them up, some had black plastic along with white plastic and wood frames with starter strips, they were so full that the bees had tunnels made of comb to get around, like something you would find in a house., maybe this was wrong and i felt bad about robbing them, but i removed 9 frames of honey in all so i could get the frames lined up to put them back, and i scraped all the comb scraped off.. A mouse had a nest in the one hive and had chewed away half the wooden frame. It's been a few weeks now and I know that there is not going to be enough food for the winter, I'm thinking about taking the smaller hive and combining it with another small hive that i already had to see if the both can't get enough food for them this winter.
 I know i should have not robbed their honey but they were such a mess that i had all i could do to get the frames out and i knew that i would never get 10 frames back in
 they're nice bees, real gentle, the first day i suited up and sweated in the 95 high humidity heat and soon started stripping down to just my reg cloths, shorts, tee shirt  and a vail, i can take stings any where but my eyes, ears.
 

[Kathyp]

you could combine them, but you might try feeding the crap out of them for the next month or so.  you have put enough frames in to give the queen room to lay.  now they just need the resources to build comb for her to lay in.  i don't know what your nectar flow is like, but if it's like mine, we are about done.  if you feed and keep a close eye on the room they have, you may be able to get enough build up to save both hives/queens for next year.

[Bill W.]

I'd equalize them before combining them.  After all, you can always combine them later.  After the get used to their new surroundings, just swap the locations of the hives once every couple of weeks until they have roughly equal numbers of bees.  Then, maybe you'll end up with two strong hives.

Are you sure they won't be able to build sufficient reserves for winter?  I don't know your area, but my bees build up more in fall than in spring.