This is one of those perennial topics. Should I cull out old combs on a schedule, or as occasionally, or never? I found this, from Bevan, published in 1843:

By long residence also the brood-combs are apt to acquire a strong odour, whereby they attract vermin, and impart an unpleasant flavour to the honey, with which, as the season advances, they are generally stored. Those who are influenced by these apprehensions never allow a box or a hive to retain the same combs beyond three years.  

On the other hand, it may be remarked that persons, who to great experience and much observation add very great success in the management of their bees, are of opinion that a box suitably furnished with brood-combs, should be superhived as long as its tenants prosper. 

In the conduct of my own apiary I have never been a rigid follower of either system, and shall not presume to decide this debateable  point, or lay down any precise rule; each respective bee-keeper must determine for himself, by an occasional examination of his hives in spring and autumn.

THE HONEYBEE ; ITS NATURAL HISTORY, PHYSIOLOGY, AND MANAGEMENT.
BY EDWARD BEVAN, M.D.
PHILADELPHlA: CAREY AND HART. 1843

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