>  >I'm curious what you mean by 'under the cover'

> As opposed to between the brood chambers.  Pollen is apparently only digested by bees up to about 13 days old. Bees of that age tend to hang out about the brood nest. Older bees pass pollen quickly through the gut to the rectum, apparently undigested.

I always assumed that the place to put it is within inches of the brood on the top bars of frames where there is brood, and have always done so.

> I'm curious whether the placement of the patty determines how much of the protein is actually utilized by the colony.

I've wondered about reports of feeding on the floor, but assumed that this might be quite effective when it works, since the young bees could be down there when weather is hot and populations are large.  After all, the brood often reaches the bottom bar in the bottom box, and actually may be closer to the brood than the top bars of the second box where excluders are used and a honey barrier can (but shouldn't) build.  This can happen if the hive gets plugged.

As for feeding on the top bars, I always figured that was a mistake for many reasons.

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

Access BEE-L directly at:
http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?A0=BEE-L