Reddit reviews The Backyard Beekeeper - Revised and Updated: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden

I got The Backyard Beekeeper when I started, and it's great. It has all you need to know about bees, pests, diseases and more. There is even a recipe section in the back that's pretty good. I still reference it every now and then when I need to know something.

There is nothing like hands on experience. Try to contact your local beekeeper's association. They may be able to hook you up with a mentor.

But read read read until then. I always recommend The Backyard Beekeeper. It's got great color photos, which are important for disease diagnosis and understanding what things should look like, and a good index.

alrighty. If you'd just like to have a few beehives, you shouldn't have too much trouble. I don't know if you have anyone with beekeeping experience there, or how many people you would have working on the hives but for you first year 3 is probably the max you'll want. You're looking at 40+ pounds of honey per hive per year, so it shouldn't be a problem. First of all you'll need the knowledge. You guys already probably know some stuff, but you need to know what you're doing, and its good to have a reference. Books I recommend: [Beekeeping for dummies](http://www.amazon.com/Beekeeping-Dummies-Howland-Blackiston/dp/1118945468/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427648134&sr=8- 1&keywords=beekeeping+for+dummies)
. That one is great, it gives you pretty much everything you need to know to start beekeeping with only a few hives (not commercially) as well as this one.
Gives (not quite as good) overview but I still recommend it on the basis that every beekeeper has different opinions. Ask the same question to five beekeepers you'll get five answers. You can pretty much search "Backyard beekeeping" on amazon and find some good books. If you read a few you'll have a good idea of what you need to do.

Secondly, you'll need to have a beekeeper friend(s). Find a beekeeping organization near you, or a friendly local beekeeper who can help you out with any questions. Trust me - no matter how prepared you are you WILL have questions once you start. If there are any week long classes on beekeeping you can find, take one, especially if it involves hands on experience. You'll have to get out there a little bit for this one but if you send a few emails and make sure to join your local organization you'll be fine. Most beekeepers are fine with helping new people.

I'm trying to keep this relatively short, but next you'll need equipment. You have some choices here and you can kind of tailor to your wants and needs, which is fun :P. First of all, what hive do you want? The boxes in a beehive are called supers, which come in three varieties: Small, medium, and deep. Obviously deep supers hold the most honey and other bee things but as such are very heavy. Medium is a good balance, and small will be less work but you won't get as much. It's up to you. Then you can choose 8 or 10 frame. 8 Frames is quite popular now (its what I use) as its lighter, and supposedly gets you just as much honey. 10 Frame will be a bit heavier. Once you have those two decided you can kind of go off reviews, what wood you want, aesthetics, etc. I bought my hive off of http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/, its an 8 frame english garden hive, this one to be particular: http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/8-Frame-English-Garden-Hive/productinfo/254CW/. I have stained it for protection and aesthetics but its a good hive. They also sell this hive in a beginners kit here: http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/8-Frame-English-Garden-Hive-BeeGinners-Kit/productinfo/252CG/. Typically its not a great idea to buy a starter kit but that one is pretty good. You have your hive, frames, and supers? Well assuming you know how your hive works by now, (you should, from the books) you're almost good to go. You need to buy your general equipment though.

Things you'll need:

Brush (wiping bees off of things)

Smoker (calming bees)

Veil (no face stingys)

Optional: Gloves (reduces sensitivity in fingers so its not recommended, unless doing heavy lifting like carrying supers)

Suit (I really recommend having one, although bees rarely sting you're gonna want one come harvest. When they're numbers are up and they get defensive, you want a suit.)

Hive tool (How could I forget!? You're best friend. Like a mini-crowbar that helps unstick sticky things. Must have)

Queen excluder (Defines what is your honey, and theirs. No eggs in your honey :P)

Hive feeder ( To feed sugar water early and late in the year, many different kinds with no clear "best" one. Look into them and take your pick :)

Pollen patties (i don't know how essential these are but you can get a billion of them for cheap, you just feed your bees with them early in the year)

And I think thats most of the equipment you need.. Of course you'll know for yourself after reading the book. You will eventually need some honey harvesting stuff unless you borrow or rent a honey kitchen. You could also buy some candlemaking or soap making stuff, which can be quite fun but thats just an extra.

Finally your bees. You usually want to buy them sometime during winter the year before you are going to start (in the spring). You can buy a package of bees or a nuc. A package is literally a box with bees, and a little box with your queen. It sounds crude but you just kinda dump em into your hive. A nuc is basically a tiny little box with 5 frames in it. The frames will have some honey and eggs for the bees to use and it's basically a little head start as they will have a little stuff built up already. Then you can pick your breed. Italian bees are the most common, and often considered the best but you can also look up: Carniolan bees, and russian bees which are pretty resistant to disease.

I tried paragraphing this but good luck reading it (sorry about that :P). Hope its helpful, let me know any questions.

Oh, PS: Check this out. It looks pretty cool but I haven't used nor do I know that much about it: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/flow-hive-honey-on-tap-directly-from-your-beehive