Although the fall (with some hives even after a few days of bad weather in summer) eviction of drones is sometimes a dramatic event, the timing and thouroughness of it varies. In the fall here, when hives are grouped for feeding and bear protection, in yards of 200 or so, it's quite noticeable that some hives trigger earlier than others (yellow ones earlier, or is it later?). (Something like the variable tolerance of 2 queens in a colony.) I don't know if anyone has separated the possible genetic influence, from the "forage conditions" effect. Either one could explain the observation Cameron noticed. As Paul vW noted, queen problems also result in drones being retained through winter. In late winter, however (early April here) there are sometimes quite a few drones in "medium" sized, healthy colonies which are rearing just a frame or two of worker brood (very unlikely that they have reared the drones since winter). I suppose I couldn't rule out the possibility that the drones wintered in queenless colonies, then drifted to stronger ones....). Kerry Clark, Apiculture Specialist B.C. Ministry of Agriculture 1201 103 Ave Dawson Creek B.C. V1G 4J2 CANADA Tel (604) 784-2225 fax (604) 784-2299 INTERNET [log in to unmask] For latitude watchers, this week is the first of the season, that I get to watch the sun rise after getting to work (8:30) (to make up for summer's midnight twilight).