My guess would be they are talking about nutritional supplements, aka pollen patties which would stimulate brood rearing. They're not talking about sugar water.
I have eleven colonies. Eight strong and three medium or medium plus. I am feeding pollen patties to the medium ones. I want them to make more winter bees.
Somewhat confusing.... towards the end of page 6 it states that fall nutritional supplements are useful only in warmer regions like southwestern and southeastern states...
I have added a very good resource to the front page of this website.
The Honey Bee Health Coalition guide to supplemental feeding.
I encourage you to check it out.
HBHC-Honey-Bee-Nutrition-Guide-Supplementary-Feeding-Guide-2024.pdf