> On the fifth or so hive, I smoked them lightly and opened the box > whereupon I was jumped by about 10 drones. If you have an excluder on the hive and some drone brood has been left above it to hatch -- and if your equipment does not have the leaks that much commercial equipment has -- then the drones cannot get out to fly after they hatch. That is until you open the lid; they can then explode out of the hive like a bomb going off when you lift the lid. This particularly true if there are many, if they have been pent up for long, and if it happens to be a hot day. I don't know if this is what you experienced, but might help explain it. Allen -- Buy, sell, trade, get a job, hire help, announce a meeting, advertise a business or publication... For free *beekeeping related* classified ads, visit http://www.internode.net/HoneyBee/BeeAds/