Thank you for the replies.

Yes, the point of the question was not emergency or supplemental feed, but "stimulating", encouraging (or "forcing") early brood rearing. Some commercial beekeepers must have tried pushing colonies in winter to make frame counts for pollination contracts, as Randy did. Are those methods applicable to non migratory colonies?

Practical application: promote brood rearing in dinks when it is too cold to combine and too early to give frames of brood from a stronger colony.

 In my locale, strong colonies returning from almond pollination are primed to take advantage of Big Leaf and Vine Maple pollen and nectar, often to the point of surplus honey production. Local non migratory colonies use this same pollen and nectar for build up and don't often make a surplus of maple honey.

What is the net loss/gain of early build up?

As Jerry points out, feeding protein sub (and I include syrup concurrently) may lead to an early build up that suffers brood loss, presumably, chilled brood, if a cold snap occurs.

Does the energy expended by aging fall/winter bees, and associated stressors of cold weather brood rearing, outweigh the potential benefits of additional early brood? What if the cluster doesn't contract to quite the same size during the cold snap, but is slightly larger, and experiences a net gain of brood ?

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