> >I'd like to add several hives and wonder what experience people have had
> >buying used equipment.   Where do you find it?  Are there any risks?  Or
> >would I be better off getting the table saw out and doing the work with
> >new materials?  How about processing equipment?  Anyone have any war
> >stories to share?
 
> The risk of using old equipment is the chance of infecting
> bees with American Foulbrood.  Foulbrood spores can survive in old bee
> equipment. But Terramycin treatments can hold foulbrood in check.
 
Serious AFB can be seen by an experienced eye.  An inspector is the best
bet to look over any aquisition -- before you buy.
 
In order to see scale, the frame must be viwed with strong light
behind you. Stong sunlight is fine, but the frame must be held precisely
so that the light goes to the *bottom* of the cell. You must look into
each cell for what appears to be coarse place paint coating the
bottom surface and end of the cell.
 
AFB scale does not remove easily with a toothpick, as does the residue
from larvae that have died of other causes. Don't confuse scale -- which
is thin and flat -- with pollen which is a plug of dense material that
half fills the cell.
 
If there are only one or two cells of scale, it is a hard call and is not
too serious -- if you plan to medivcate faithfully. However if the hive is
'polluted', there will be many, many scales, and the frame should be
discarded.  This equipment passed over, unless you are sure that you are
methodical and will medicate very faithfully after discarding all frames
with more than one or two scales (which you should manually remove
yourself).
 
> Making bee boxes is not difficult if the wood is available. Making bee
> boxes of the exact dimensions that will reduce the amount of burr comb
> the bees will build is more of a challenge.   Making frames involves too
> many cuts to be attractive to me.
 
And it is precision work.
 
> Extractors are expensive to buy new and they are of no use to
> people who end up with no bees.   Lucky beekeepers can make a deal for
> future deliveries of honey in exchange for a used extractor.
 
Or take your frames to a neighbouring beekeeper and have them extracted in
exchange for a small percentage of the honey.
 
Com honey production is an alternative.  It requires no extracting.
 
> How to find used equipment:  drop the word to all of your
> acquaintances that you are interested in old bee equipment.   Many people
> have dropped out of beekeeping in recent years because the arrival of
> mites made more management necessary.
 
Join your local bee club.  It will be the wisest thing you ever did.  But
make sure the people whose advice you follow are themselves respected and
successful and conservative -- at first at least.  Every club has some
people who are 'creative', meaning they do *everything* differently.  If
you meet one of the latter, I'd advise listening, but don't follow.
 
FWIW
Regards
 
Allen
 
W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper                                         VE6CFK
RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta  Canada T0M 1Y0
Internet:[log in to unmask] & [log in to unmask]
Honey. Bees, & Art <http://www.internode.net/~allend/>