As someone starts beekeeping, the first year with the beehive is still a different experience. In spring, summer, fall, and winter a colony looks and behaves differently, and you can see it first. You will start most of the time because you heard all about bees (see above #1) but we all know that books are not a substitution for experience. You to keep easily as many as 100 hives to a bee yard. I encourage you to launch your beekeeping adventure with two hives whenever you can afford it (both in money and in time). Throughout the beekeeping season, you will then have to compare and contrast.