New Beekeeper seeking advice, and hives! (Used preferably)

[parallelism]

Good morning, bee community!

I'm a long time bee learner (only 2 years), I've been researching and reading all the materials I can get my hands on and this spring, I'm finally ready to take the next step into beekeeping!

I'm seeking your advice and equipment! I'm a new beekeeper in SE Portland and I plan to get 2 hives. I was wondering if anybody knew of a good used hive website. I've been using Craigslist but because it's 'off season' there aren't too many sellers compared to last summer! So, if anybody has used hives they would be willing to sell, I would be greatly interested in buying them. I'm a very motivated and serious buyer, I've been researching for long enough and ready to put my knowledge into action! I'm not sure if I can post my phone number on this website without getting in trouble, but I'll put my contacts in the bottom of this thread. If you have new hives, I would also be willing to consider buying those, but I'd like to save a few bucks. I'm very excited to jump into the community and get started!

What I'm seeking:
-4 deeps (two hives with two deeps each)
-40 deep frames
-4 supers (two hives with two shallow supers)
-40 super shallow frames
-A screen, a bottom board, queen excluder, a inner-top-cover and a roof
-Two Nucs (I'm pretty sure I know where I'm buying these already, but subject to change)

If anybody had any input or advice on where to buy hives, or if you have any to sell I would love all information, as mentioned, I've been using craigslist and this is my first post on this website.

Contact info (if this is in violation of forum rules, please admins remove below information)
--[phone] - Feel free to Text or Call
-- Message me on this board or reply to this thread, I plan to start spending some time here!

PS- I was reading in my books that a 'bee mentor' is a very useful tool and I don't have a bee mentor yet (Heck, I've only met with one other beekeeper). If anybody would be interested in networking together, don't be shy to get in touch with me. I'm very serious about this hobby.

Thank you for your time,

Nicholas

[toddbalsiger]

I'd strongly suggest that you start attending one of the Portland beekeepers' meetings. People from those clubs probably are the most likely candidates to buy from, or you can do a group order of equipment and reduce unit cost.

[parallelism]

Jan 26, 2015 9:32:05 GMT -7 toddbalsiger said:

I'd strongly suggest that you start attending one of the Portland beekeepers' meetings. People from those clubs probably are the most likely candidates to buy from, or you can do a group order of equipment and reduce unit cost.

Yeah, I just registered with PUB (Portland Urban Beekeepers) and plan to attend the meeting the first Wednesday.

Is a group order with 2 hives worth of equipment large enough for a discount? I would have assumed it was too small of an order.

[motj3]

I would strongly suggest avoiding used boxes and frames. You will probably find a local beek cutting their own boxes and selling some for pretty cheap relative to commercial stuff. Also, screened bottom boards are hit and miss with locals. Most I know who bought them, got rid of them. To each his own though.