>I have heard of chemical residue building up in your wax and the
cells getting smaller over time.

 Beeswax is a sink for all kinds of environmental contamination besides
contamination from treatments for beekeeping problems.
Research ( Elbert Jaycox)has shown that brood nest cells do get smaller (up
to 17%) after years of use but found no problem with smaller cells.

> How often should the brood wax be changed out
and what problems if any could this cause in the hive?

Every beekeeper you ask will give a different opinion. In days gone past
comb rotation was considered a waste of time and money. Now annual removel
of some comb (2 frames per hive is the most often talked about number) is
considered normal.
Many beekeepers which have used Apistan (fluvalinate)or Checkmite
(choumaphos) or both are in the process of changing all comb (I finnished
mine this year after three years of work).

So far your questions have been easy. The next  is complicated.
"what problems if any could this cause in the hive"

Tests to determine exactly which environment chemicals and levels are in
your brood comb are very expensive. Tests for chemicals used to treat varroa
etc.are not needed as  most likely  the contamination was done by you. Our
bee labs have given us accurate amounts of contamination levels for per
label use of approved chemicals. Illegal use falls in the unknown catagory.

In my opinion contaminated brood nest comb is a major cause of hive loss in
the U.S. today and base the fact on the big improvement in all areas of the
hive by those which have rotated contaminated comb from their hives.

Many  problems such as queen raising problems (coumaphos) and sterile drones
(fluvalinate) have been documented. Many other problems are suspected but
hard to prove.

>Also how often, if
needed should the wax in the supers be changed out?

I only change out super wax on rare occasions. I am of the opinion old dark
super comb ddoes tend to darken honey. Rather than replace the comb I like
to sell the supers with loose corners and dark comb  to other beekeepers (
many calls for supers from beekeepers this year)and replace with new supers,
with new frames and new foundation.

Others may not agree with me but I do believe that the lightest honey comes
from comb which has never had brood in it and is not very old but only my
opinion. I really don't worry much about super comb.

The archives are filled  with opinions on brood nest wax contamination.

Sincerely,
Bob Harrison

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