Hi, I’ve got hiveware and a nucleus on order for this coming spring. I know there’re some beekeepers who frequent the space, and was wondering if anyone knows about equipment sharing coops, particularly on the honey extraction side. I don’t really want to buy a crusher or extractor for my puny one or two hives 
If there’s any other bee-related causes (anyone want to work out a collective hot wax dipping of hive boxes?) I’d love to hear about them.
Hi Sam, Apologies for the delay in responding. I obviously don’t have my preferences set up correctly. I have just posted that I will be extracting in the quad next week. You are welcome to join in if you at least have a bee veil to wear. Extracting in the open attracts other bees who are focussed on a feed and generally buzz around annoyingly. If you only have a few frames, the local hobby clubs are cheap to join and allow you to rent a small hand extractor and a hot knife for uncapping. I prefer to use a German uncapping fork. please don’t hesitate to catch up with me to discuss. Hot wax dipping of hive boxes is something that is done in clubs in the southern states especially VIC. It is expensive to set up,pure parafin is best but you do need accurate temperature regulation. Should the wax ignite you cant put it out. I don’t know anyone doing it as a coop here. Many beekeepers including myself are now slowly converting to EPS (expanded polystyrene) as it is inert and doesn’t rot.
I do have protective gear; when are you thinking of doing the extraction? I just now applied a few coats of good exterior acrylic to the outside of my boxes, I’ll see how they hold up over the next year or two before considering wax dipping/synthetic hivewear.