/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./ *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html