Consider this: which has more pathogens? The bees or the combs? If the bees have more pathogens than the combs, it won't really matter if you use old or new combs. Like, a sick person will get better by putting on a clean suit? Depends on the ecology of the disease. If some life stage resides on the combs it might matter.  Also, imo, it is not about letting the same colony have their old combs, but giving old combs to OTHER colonies.  If your disease is fungal, and the fungus has a stage in your suit, it might be unwise to give your suit to someone else.  In colony loss models here comb replacement is a strong factor. Higher replacement ~ lower loss. It might not be the replacement itself but an indicator of beek cleanliness or other beek behaviour. Lennard 		 	   		  
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