Drone frame placement?

In a 10 frame hive I put the green drone frames in the 3 or 7 frame position. If I want to keep them in the hive but not have the queen lay in them I put them in the 1 or 10 position. I put them in there and pull them at out 3 weeks. They'll be capped and it'll definately put a crimp in the varroa's growth curve.

I too get drone brood comb drawn out between the top and bottom deeps. Apparently something is violating the beespace in there. The deeps and frames are mostly Dadant, but I've also got some from Kelly, Betterbee, Orr, and Brushy Mountain. When things get hopping, no matter the manufacturer or combination of manufacturers that area gets drone comb. Capped or not I scrape them away when I look between the deeps for active queen cells. I feed the larva to the fish in my pond while examining them and getting a feel for varroa levels. I melt the leftover comb in my solar wax melter.

I started a 3 lbs package on 4-19 and placed it in position 4. For drawing comb it has acted like a barrier. The bees have drawn out to the other side of the box (5 and ½ frames, caped brood and stores) and the side of the drone frame towards the brood nest. Nothing on the outside surface of the green frame or the other three outside frames. :s Still giving 1:1. No drone brood, just syrup and pollen stores, center is open drawn comb. Is this normal? Should I flip some frames (non-brood) say (3&7, 2&8) etc. Or will they get around to it and I’m worrying too much? :doh:

Everything sounds normal, you may be worrying too much. Lord knows I did when I first started. Let them do their thing, don't disturb the drawn comb by turning it around. Make sure the queen is laying (find eggs and larva) and leave them alone. I'd keep feeding them for another month or as long as they'll take it to get them in the best position for later Spring.

Personally, I don't put the drone frames in there until they've at least drawn out a deep. A newly establishing hive is more interested in hitting critical mass with workers before considering reproduction needs.