>>We have one hive ... with ... some larger capped brood on the bottom ... interpreting as drone larvae. Can anyone explain this...?

One possibility is that the bees lost the laying queen in the late fall and raised a supercedure virgin which failed to mate due to cool temps.  The virgin spent the winter in the hive and recently became a drone layer.

[Another possibility is laying workers if the pattern is gun shot.]

The numerous bees are due to either a strong hive last fall or drifting if this hive is at the end of a row of hives.  Bees tend to drift a lot giving the [often false] impression of a super queen in a strong hive.  You check the brood pattern and often find it inferior to other less populous hives in the middle of a row.

Best solution is to find the presumed drone laying queen, dispatch her (she can't mate anymore), and re-queen.

Waldemar
Long Island, NY

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