> When I've done it I've gone back on the fourth day and broken down 
sealed cells to prevent this. There are usually some.

Since the diet for larvae is the same for the first three days whether 
the end result is to be a queen or worker, and we are using hives that 
are thriving, with lots of young bees, and that are on a honey and 
pollen flow, why would a two or even three-day-old larva not make as 
good a queen as a younger one?

Also, what makes you think that the unsealed cells were not started 
with larvae of the same age as the ones being broken down, only later?

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