Back in 2015, BIP came out with this survey that seemed to suggest that old comb yields better winter survival. I'm not sure if the survey was ever repeated or if the results are valid but here they are.
> https://beeinformed.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/AverageBroodCombAge-RF.pdf
In terms of the Saudi study being cited, the results seem almost to perfect. The uniform decline in every age-related metric seems suspect. Knowing more about the methodology and the chemical analysis of each comb-year would help.
Bill Hesbach
Cheshire CT
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