>  I think I should discard those colonies that are 1 standard distribution 
> down the average. But ...

Unfortunately your chart got a bit gibbled up coming through the email, and 
I see no data for yard three.

From what I can see, though, and without plotting the data, your 
distribution is not too far off the normal distribution one might expect to 
see.  I doubt that I would find the chart very useful anyhow -- for 
practical purposes.  For interest and reflection, it may carry insights.

For other than for curiosity purposes, such an analysis to me serves no 
purpose.  The real work has to be done in the yards, and unless you run your 
operation as an intellectual exercise primarily, the question is how to best 
resolve the problem most quickly, neatly, and efficiently, with due 
consideration  for any hidden ramifications.

Many beekeepers faced with your problem would just go out and double or 
triple up everything that looks weak and take away the extra boxes in a few 
weeks, then requeen those hives if they appear to need it.  That is probably 
what I would do, but I have never had the problem.

IF, however, you are doing queen selection and breeding from the total 
population, you may be concerned about keeping poor genetics in the pool and 
may wish to ensure that drones are not raised in poor colonies.

This is a complex question, and I think that calculating distributions is a 
bit of overkill in dealing with a real beeyard situation.

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