> I'm questioning even that, if there is a band of honey above the brood.

Yes, even the width of the wood makes one wonder, however one might ask how far the young bees stray from the brood.  This may vary with season as well.  It seems that in summer, during a heavy flow, that virtually every bee in the hive knows where home is and can find it if you take a broodless box away.  I realise that is no proof and many other factors may be responsible for that obeservation, but...

> However, without some relatively simple studies to confirm, we really don't know if the bees that feed that far from the actual brood area utilize the protein as well as those immediately in the brood nest.

This would be difficult to establish under all conditions.

> Unlike dry-fed supplement, which is packed into cells, patty supplement appears to be consumed on the spot. Allen, do you see patty material actually being transferred intact into cells adjacent to brood? 

No, but I have not really looked for that much. I do see the bees eating the patties, though.  I suppose marking bees as they emerge might help observe who is eating the patties. 

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