Honeybees are a hot topic these days. It seems that everywhere you look, you hear about the plight of the honeybee. Some people, because of this worldwide phenomenon, decide to take up beekeeping. And I think that's a good thing. To get started, a lot of folks begin by purchasing a book and try to emulate what they've read. Likely they'll pick up a catalog, but more likely they'll find the websites for many beekeeping supply companies. And then they start buying equipment.
From my experience, this is not the best way to get started. I would find a local beekeeper and find a mentor. This mentor has to be someone who can show that they've accomplished what you want to accomplish. What you don't want to do is find a mentor who charges a lot of money and talks a good game. They have to "show you the honey", so to speak. A good mentor will also save you a lot of money by minimizing the equipment that you need to buy to the bare minimum!
Once you find a mentor, do what they say. Ignore everyone else for a least two seasons. That is not to say you shouldn't question your mentor, but just do as they say for a couple years. Beekeeping has many roads to follow and many paths to success, but you need to stay focused for a while. Otherwise you'll find yourself going ten different ways, accomplishing nothing and getting very frustrated.
One final piece of advice: don't buy a package of bees to get started. Get some bees from a local source (like your mentor or a local queen breeder), these are bees who've survived for at least one full year, through all the seasons are are healthy. When you buy package bees, likely they are not from your area and who knows how they will perform. That and they will likely weaken the genetics of the honeybee population in your area.
Happy beekeeping!
