Mike:
There are five or six frames full of capped brood but it does have this 
shotgun pattern of empty cells.

I guess I would do a quick check on percent of holes excluding pollen filled 
cells. If I was at 90% filled  I wouldnt panic...even somewhat lower at 
times.
I have also found percentage of holes changes at times so I may give them a 
little time before final evaluation.  Also comparing to other hives that are 
adjacent at the same time slice can be informative.
Of course if you have a very high percentage of holes you definitely have a 
problem of some kind.
For what its worth I have seen hives worse than 5-6 frames of capped 
brood(in a deep).
John Horton
N Alabama 

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