Hi, you don't say where you live but if you live in the UK your local beekeeping association is the place to start. Have a look at this website for information http://www.britishbee.org.uk/ You need really to talk to experts who keep bees, their knowledge is invaluable.

I live in the Republic of Ireland and started beekeeping last year, had 26lb of honey last year off 1 hive and just finished jarring 55lb of honey off 2 this year. Your inital outlay is quite expensive, protective suit/veil, smoker not to mention the hives themselves. Its usual to have National hives.

Its quite time consuming, you would need to live locally to your allotment. You are supposed to check the hives every 7 days during May/June even July to control swarming. This means putting all your gear on and opening the hive up.

I buy my equipment from a local supplier in Cork but use Thornes in the UK for my labels http://www.thorne.co.uk

It's a myth to say you keep bees ,I like to think you look after them as they are free to go when ever they want.The chose of hive is a lot to do with the area you live National hives similar to the ones the Commercial people use are single skinned and tend to be cold in the winter and need to be lagged .I had a W.B.C hive which is doubled skinned I have had a 100 pound of honey from mine I never bothered with a honey extractor I used to cut the honey comb out of the frames and put it in big jam pan and put it on a low light not much more than a candle and let the comb melt down very slowly as not to kill the live em-zynes ,When it's melted let it set until the wax has set poke a hole in it and pour your honey in to jars And a word to the wise be careful of the associations They are a funny lot of sods

you would have to bee careful if you were to take care of bees and you would have to wear appropriate clothing so that you didn't get stung by the bees.

their is a lot of work in keeping bees . read up on it 1 .national & smith r ok for starting of with . join a bee club . i had them 10 years .look for a book ted hooper . enjoy