I want to keep bees! Where do I start?

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“Where do I start?”

I get this question several times every year when interest in bees and beekeeping spring up like so many dandelions in the front yard. Usually, the questions begin when the flowers are blooming, temperatures are rising and folks begin to pay attention to their yards. By this time, it is a bit late in the game to get started, but not all is lost. One has to start *somewhere* and now is as good a time as any.
In this post my primary goal is to help you, a beginner, get a good head-start along the path to beekeeping in excellence. In my mind, an excellent beekeeper is self-sufficient, confidently understands his bees, the plants in his locale, how to manage his colonies and how to keep most of them alive each winter. The following information below highlights key areas of information and experience that you will need to incorporate on this path to excellence. 
In the process of reading this blog, you may feel like postponing your entry into beekeeping for another year. To be honest, that can be a great thing! There's much to learn and prepare for and I take great stock in Benjamin Franklin's old proverb, "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!". Far too many jump headfirst into beekeeping without a mentor, understanding the basics or counting the cost. This can be a detriment not only to them but their bees and other local beekeepers.
Are you up for the challenge? Are you committed to excellence? Okay, great... let's begin!

Table of contents

I have added a clickable index just below to help you navigate and jump back into the post over time. ALL of this info is important for you to grasp within the first couple years of beekeeping ― much of it right away. Skip around, but please understand that none of this can be neglected in your path to becoming an excellent beekeeper.

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