Beekeeping is a fun hobby! and as a beekeeper you are the caretaker of living insects. These insects and the equipment needed to keep them alive and you safe are not cheap. On average, one colony of bees, including frames and boxes will cost $250. If you need to buy personal safety equipment and necessary hardware to work your bees add an additional $100 for a total of around $350 to get started with one colony. The sage advice for a beginner beekeeper is to start with two colonies in case one fails, so expect the starting cost for two colonies and safety equipment will be close to $600. There are ways to minimize the cost, by putting out swarm traps, putting your name on your local city, county or state swarm list and making your own veil or jacket. We do not recommend building your own boxes and frames. Please click on the following videos to help you understand what it takes to get started.
Some other great channels on YouTube that promotes good animal husbandry are:
B&K Bees -
Kamon Reynolds - Tennessee's Bees -
UoG Honey Bee Research Centre -
Bees need three categories of things to do well here in Northern Nevada, 1st, is various nectar, pollen and water sources - basically, plenty of food and water, 2nd, a safe dry warm house, 3rd, some type of mite treatment plan. If your area provides months of various nectar and pollen producing plants with water nearby, you give them a safe house from predators such as yellow jackets, bears and have a pro-active not re-active mite treatment plan, they will thrive.
We also recommend you read as much as possible. You-tube is great, but it can get confusing and there are many assumptions made by the people making those videos. What works in areas for those video producers may not work in Northern Nevada. The NNBA uses “The Backyard Beekeeper” by Kim Flottum, 4th edition in beginning beekeeping classes. That book is chock full of useful information on how to get started and succeed as a beekeeper.