The price of everything seems to be going up every time you look and beekeeping equipment is no exception. It’s never been a cheap hobby to set up, although it is cheap to run, and so many people are looking to buy second hand equipment. However, is it good to buy second hand beekeeping equipment?
It will come as no surprise to discover the answer is that it depends.
The first thing to do is check the price. I have seen second hand equipment on Ebay and at beekeeping auctions go for close to or more than the price of new. The next thing to do is decide if you want second hand cedar hives or new soft wood ones or polystyrene. We will ignore poly hives here as I have little experience of them as due to their environmental implications we don’t use them. The price of second hand cedar versus new in other materials is often very similar. Cedar hives have the advantage of requiring very little maintenance and tend to have a very long life so long as they have not been damaged. New soft wood hives have the advantage of being new but require greater maintenance. Unless they are close to perfect I would avoid second hand soft wood hives.
Next, you should check why they are being sold. If the source is a reputable beekeeper with a good record in disease management and they are downsizing then things are probably ok. The ones to watch are where the story is that their bees have died out and they are selling because they don’t want to continue beekeeping. It may be that the bees starved or were a small colony that did not survive the winter in which case there should not be a problem but you need to find out. The foul brood diseases are very contagious and the spores of American Foul Brood can be viable for up to sixty years. Be especially careful of equipment which has” been in the shed for years.”
No matter what the reason, if you do buy second hand equipment please make sure you very thoroughly clean it and then scorch all the inside surfaces with a blowtorch. If you want to know how to do this please have a look at The Blow Torch – A Beekeeper’s Best Friend This also applies to second hand hive tools. Smokers are more difficult to clean but give them a good going over with a scouring pad and get as much of the old propolis off as you can.
It’s not worth the risk of used frames and foundation. If you buy boxes with frames that have already been used then take out the frames and burn them or safely dispose of them. If there is any sort of disease or wax moth in the hive then it is likely to be in the wax.
Second hand clothing needs a good clean in the washing machine and definitely dispose of second hand gloves.
In summary then, it can be good to buy second hand equipment and if you buy from the right place for the right price you should get a good deal. The old statement “Buyer Beware” is as true here as anywhere else, so be careful.
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