/People don't seem to realise that hives can be bought at any time up 
until harvest and even with a crop of honey on them.  After harvest, 
they can be bought at any time that they are reachable.  (We found snow 
defeated our plans last winter)./

/The cost is the same, generally, but the certainty of getting a crop 
increases as the season goes on.  New beekeepers typically lose up to 
half their purchases before summer and often mismanage the hives. Buying 
a hive right before the honeyflow is a much safer bet./

/In Alberta, that means early July.  Hives can also be bought mid-summer 
after the first honey pull and still make 100+ pounds in August and 
September./

/Nothing is simpler than buying a hive ready to super or with a super on 
it. Granted, such hives can be heavier to truck home  and flying bees 
need to be restrained, but these things are not real problems./

    /For some reason, those who teach courses always talk about nucs and
    packages and neglect explaining that these are the hard and
    expensive ways to get started compared to just buying an established
    hive./

    /They also recommend new equipment and foundation.  In fact, bees do
    not like new equipment and prefer used. /

    /As for fear of disease, disease is everywhere and manageable, but
    people scare newbies with the possibility and exaggerate the
    implications.  Granted, out of control AFB is serious, but a little
    education is all it takes to recognize and deal with it in the early
    stages.  The other bee diseases are usually a minor nuisance./

    /Buying new won't guarantee freedom from disease, but it will
    guarantee smaller crops and higher risk of hive loss.  We have ways
    of dealing with bee diseases and they are the same whether the
    equipment is new or used./

    /Hive loss is hive loss whether from the challenge of inhabiting
    new, sterile boxes and frames or from a bee disease.  As far as I
    can see, people are overly influenced by the advertising and
    promotions by bee equipment manufacturers to do things the hard way./

/Go figure./


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