This same subject (culling/killing/maiming/sparking/frying/freezing/total
anhailation of the insects that pay your bills) was just visited by the
agriculture.sci.beekeeping newsgroup last month.

Before someone starts culling their hives to scrape out another 20% into
their honey profits I'd like to offer an alternative:

Follow the news and articles on splitting hives into sytrafoam nucs.  You
CAN overwinter a softball sized swarm with 3 deep frames of honey(+1 pollen,
1 brood) into the hardest of winters.  There have been articles in print on
this subject from ABJ or Bee Culture.  A local beekeeper here proved it
successful to 15 or 20 split through -20F winter here a few years ago.  All
the splits survived right through February (and were promptly trampled by a
herd of cows in Feb. but that's besides the point).
So you take your 'extra' honey and still have something to work with in
spring.  Alot more work, alot more management but more control over varroa
and AFB among other issues.

My personal opinion of culling is that you become a burden on the remaining
beekeepers by non-contribution in killing off your gene pool. That is -IF-
you believe that successful varroa (and other) survivors aren't just in the
apiaries of specialty bee breeders - but in our own backyards and apiaries.

Short term decisions pay the bills, but long term decisions figure out how
LONG you can pay your bills.....

If you cull your bee stock what will you do next year when something
unexpected happens (changes to the price of bees/#'s of winter kill in
surrounding states/weather conditions for starting nucs/etc, etc. etc.)?
Does anything in bee management ever happen unexpectedly?

Matthew Westall - "E-Bees" - Castle Rock, CO