This came out last week:

> A study was carried out to investigate the influence of differently aged wax combs (foundation as zero, 1, 2, 3 and 4-6 years old) on some biological aspects that affect the productivity of honey bee colonies. It could be concluded that the wax combs aged from zero (foundation) to three years old (light color combs) are more preferable in the performance and productivity of honey bee colonies than the older (dark color combs) ones.


Mohammad Abd Al-Wahab Abd Al-Fattah, Yasser Yehia Ibrahim & Marwa
Ibrahim Haggag (2021): Some biological aspects of honey bee colonies in relation to the age of
beeswax combs, Journal of Apicultural Research, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2021.1899657

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00218839.2021.1899657

comments:
I have long viewed the idea of routine comb replacement with a deep-seated sense of skepticism. I always admired the old black combs I saw in weather beaten hives in California, fragrant with propolis gathered from eucalyptus and unknowable sources deep in the chapparal. So, when I read this I immediately thought: they are using combs from a highly agricultural area (the Nile Delta); probably the combs are contaminated with pesticides. Also, one study proves nothing.  But I try to be open-minded, y'know.

PLB

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