>The mechanism is as follows. Bees complete patrols in random
>locations...

Thanks for that, Pete.  Very interesting.

It answers some questions, but also raises more than it answers.  
I suppose I should pull out my Winston and take a look. There is probably
something in there on the topic.

Anyhow, I am thinking at this point of my bees with not much to do.  They 
are in winter, and clustered tightly much of the time, loosely some of the 
time, and flying on the occasional warm, still day. (like this one - http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/images/2011/IMG560.jpg )

What brought me to wondering this is that I had some Apivar strips in 
to satisfy those who suggested that I should do a finishing treatment 
to establish the efficacy of my repeated oxalic evaporation treatments 
done previously.  (That question of computing efficacy is a whole'nother 
problem.)

Anyhow, the action of these strips is dependant on the bees brushing 
on the strips and other bees brushing on the bees that brushed on the
strips and so on and so on.  I asked myself, what if there is very little bee 
movement in the colony?  The propogation of the active ingredient would 
be slower, possibly very much slower, than expected.

That is why the question cam up, but I have often wondered before 
when I have been observing the difering ways that bees occupy combs 
and boxes at differing time.

I'm still not convinced that in stable times, that each bee does not have 
a home address, the young ones downtown where the action is, middle 
age in the suburbs...

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