On Mon, 1 Apr 1996, Mark D. Egloff wrote:
 
>      Gentlepeople:
>
>
>
>         However, something I saw puzzled me.  I saw drones, not to many,
>      but enough to clearly indicate that the queen had been laying drone
>      eggs at least 30 days ago (March 1?).  For those who might jump to the
>      conclusion that I had a drone layer, not so.  There was plenty of
>      regular worker brood, nearly 7-9 frames worth.
>
>         The question is, is this early for drones?  I was not expecting to
>      see them for at least another month.  Does their presence this early
>      in our season mean anything or is it normal?  Dare I hope that it is a
>      GOOD sign for a change?
    Mark,  I would take it as a good sign. I don't know the kind of
weather you have been having over the last month or so , but the bees may
have got into some early pollen. Pollen will bring on drones. I feed
pollen in Jan to get some drones early (march). Steve Tabers book ,
Breeding super Bees , he talks about pollen and drone production all year
long. If the queen is laying a good worker pattern with few wholes and
you have some drone around the outside ,thats great.  You need a good
break. Enjoy the season and keep some notes on what your seeing in your
bees. Its great to compare year to year and hive to hive.You follow that
hive along all year and see how she produces compared to the rest that
you have. Then you can tell us in the fall that it was infact a good sign.
 Best Regards
 Roy