Fellow keepers of the bee, Thanks for the information you have provided thus far. I would like to give you additional information that I should have posted with the last message. This hive was headed by a YUGO queen that is a year old. They are allegedly resistant to the tracheal mite. None the less I treated this hive and all the others with TM patties and with APISTAN strips per directions. I removed what was left of the patty and the APISTAN strip on the 46th day of use ( that was how I found the drones on the ground). I did not get into the brood nest as I was short of time on the day of discovery. I did seperate both hive bodies and the one on top was quite heavy. I estimate around 40 - 50 pounds. The one on the bottem was lighter, around 20 - 30 pounds. Both hive bodies had lots of active bees. I checked this yard about two weeks prior and this hive was hauling in pollen like crazy. I have never seen a coloney bring in the amounts of pollen that I saw on that day. That really brought joy to my heart. :-) The color indicated that the bees were gathering from different sources in the area. There is a small apple orchard about 1000 yards from the stand. I guess about 100 trees. I was wondering if the owner used some type of insecticide on his trees. If he did it should have harmed all the hives and not just one? He was a bee haver at one time. I located his bee yard. 500 yards from where I placed mine. It looks as if there hasn't been any bees in the hives for years. This is a new location for me and I am kind of nervous about the health of my girls. I will get into the brood chamber the first chance I get and report back. Ron Harriger Cambridge Springs Pa.