Researching Beekeeping

Beekeeping has been interesting to me for a very long time. Not sure where that interest came from but I’ve been fascinated with hives, colonies, and how bees do their work. Beehives have caught my attention as I’ve seen them in various locations. In the past year or so I’ve found  my interest in bees growing and finally decided to take a serious look at what would be involved in keeping bees. I have spent quite a bit of time reading other blogs and researching websites about beekeeping. Needless to say, everyone has an opinion. There are actually quite a few blogs dedicated to beekeeping in the Pacific Northwest; even  a few that are located much closer to downtown Seattle than I ever expected. It was good to see there is an active, local beekeeping community. For every blog out there, there are probably another several dozen beekeepers that aren’t blogging. In addition to reading blogs, I decided to stop by the local apiary supply place in Snohomish and get their input. Part of the discussion centered around the cost of getting started, as well as looking into classes. Almost everything I’ve read has suggested starting with two hives. Having two can provide some perspective when trying to evaluate the strength and viability of the hives. I was a shocked to hear an estimate of $1000 just to get started with two hives!  I’m not a stranger to hobbies (just ask my wife) and I fully understand that hobbies tend to have some initial start-up costs. I’m ok with a bit of investment in starting a new hobby, but as I left the apiary supply pondering the wisdom of spending $1000 on bees, I figured that start-up cost was just out of the question for now.