> I recently borrowed a copy of 'A Manual of Beekeeping' by E.B. Wedmore
> from my local library and I show below some extracts which I trust are
> appropriate and of assistance...." On the supposition that the cells
> must soon become too small, many good tough combs are destroyed
> unnecessarily each year...."
 
I LOVE this book already, and I've never read it.  Thank you thank you
thank you for posting this.  I have typed until I was blue in the face on
this list trying to expose the folly of such practices and found that I
was merely overwhelmed by those who would like to do things the hardest
way possible.
 
Destroying older combs that are still in good shape is another of those
things small-time beekeepers do to make sure that they stay small-time. I
could make a list of all the unecessary and costly work that people do due
to simple ignorance and this would be near the top.
 
Sure, I know that some extension people recommend it and justify it, but
when have you ever seen an extension guy run thousands of hives?  Large
successful beekeepers just simply do not do it.  Established combs are a
treasure not to waste.
 
I have never melted a comb in twenty-five years that was not broken or
warped beyond chance of rehabilitation, and last spring when Eric and I
were looking for nosema, I couldn't even find enough to prove to myself
that I knew how to find it until I borrowed an infected sample to prove I
could see the spores.  AFB?  Well, we have 3,000 hives, and I think we
found one stinker last year.
 
Otherwise nada.
 
The proof is in the pudding.
 
Anyone else care to name other futile, wasteful practices that are
recommended to us?
 
Allen