Jim, I checked hives yesterday, as it was a warm day. One hive had the entrance plugged with dead bees, which turned out to be mostly drones. I keep a coarse screen (4 squares to the inch) in the entrance as a mouse guard which makes it hard for the bees to remove dead bees. I have seen drones flying from this hive throughout the winter. This hive and 2 others have young Starline queens. But, the hive with drones is much stronger than the other 2 and has plentiful winter stores. I presume that there could be a relationship between the good condition of the hive and the presence of drones. Kevin D. Parsons Pittsburgh PA USA