Second Hand National / Equipment Wanted - Essex

[chickens]

Hi All.
Am a newbee so pardon my ignorance and etiquette if I have posted incorrectly in any way.
I am waiting for a beginners course to come up in my area, but in the meantime have been looking into the equipment and costs.
My estimation is that a full set up for a beginner could cost me in the region of £600 (ish)??
I am looking at a national hive as it appears to be quite a standard one on the market, however apart from Thornes and ebay I do not appear to find any at a more reasonable cost.
Have searched gumtree and the like but there does not appear to be second hand ones around.
Does anyone know of any used equipment going in Essex.... should I avoid used equipment altogether? or any good distributors that I should perhaps look at?
Thanks in advance and apologies if this is a topic that has been raised many a time before

 

[BeeJayBee]

Try joining your local association and then wait for their for sale ads.

If you do decide to buy second hand you need to clean everything carefully before using it with bees. Read this from Beebase/NBU "Cleaning and Sterilising Hives" http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/downloadDocument.cfm?id=1069

 

[B+.]

should I avoid used equipment altogether?

As a beginner, the answer is probably: yes (except under guidance from a knowledgeable mentor). The reason is, it may have come from a diseased colony that died out. You have no way of knowing. As BJB pointed out, there is some good advice on hive cleaning but this is, perhaps, more focussed on equipment that you know where it has come from and you're just cleaning it before re-use.

 

[alldigging]

My estimation is that a full set up for a beginner could cost me in the region of £600 (ish)??
I am looking at a national hive as it appears to be quite a standard one on the market, however apart from Thornes and ebay I do not appear to find any at a more reasonable cost.

It is said that to make a small fortune in bee keeping, you need to start with a large one.

Look for the sale days at thornes - they're listed on the main page of their site.

If you can't buy in the sale - and I recommend you do as it's cheaper, then bees on a budget kit is available for a national hive for £150. Or a 14x12 for bit more.

A polynuc from paynes is a very useful additional, but starting with enough kit to deal with your first swarming is important (Artificial or natural)

The Haynes bee manual is the best £18 you'll spend I think in terms of books. It's very readable and has tons of photos that make things easy to understand.

Suit, smoker, hive tool and assortment of other stuff that you'll maybe need at some point (queen marking equipment) ..

It's not a cheap hobby so I would probably recommend you get some hands on bee experience before spending lots of money. You may decide it's not for you after being stung or just having a go at lifting a frame with lots of bees on.

 

[theeggman]

It is said that to make a small fortune in bee keeping, you need to start with a large one.

Look for the sale days at thornes - they're listed on the main page of their site.

If you can't buy in the sale - and I recommend you do as it's cheaper, then bees on a budget kit is available for a national hive for £150. Or a 14x12 for bit more.

A polynuc from paynes is a very useful additional, but starting with enough kit to deal with your first swarming is important (Artificial or natural)

The Haynes bee manual is the best £18 you'll spend I think in terms of books. It's very readable and has tons of photos that make things easy to understand.

Suit, smoker, hive tool and assortment of other stuff that you'll maybe need at some point (queen marking equipment) ..

It's not a cheap hobby so I would probably recommend you get some hands on bee experience before spending lots of money. You may decide it's not for you after being stung or just having a go at lifting a frame with lots of bees on.

and to the forum.

 

[B+.]

It's not a cheap hobby.

The definition of "hobby" certainly has to be: something that costs you more than you ever thought it would at the start.

 

[Brigsy]

I was in the same situation as you this time last year. I saved a fortune buying stuff slowly in the sales from now and through the winter.