Starting out beekeeping # of hives/nucs?

[Sniper338]

My wife and i are disagreeing...

She wants to not do anything until we take our bee class, and she wants one hive to start with and learn on.

Me, i want to get several nucs on order besides just the one.  I want 3 or so hives to start on to be able to compare each and learn..

Starting out year one...  firat bees ever...  how many should you try to start with?

[bwallace23350]

Get more than one hive and go ahead and get the bees. YOu will learn more by doing than by taking a class but still take the class.

[Aroc]

Start with at least 2.  I wish I had.  I would be careful not to start out with too many though.

[iddee]

Never start with less than 2.
Never start with more than 5.
After the first year, you will agree.

[chester5731]

We started with two. We didn't take a class but we have two good mentors.

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Sniper, I take it by your name and caliber you not one to fool with, 338 is a beast.  I really like the idea that this Bee adventure is a joint adventure with you and wife.

I have read all above responses, every response suggest at least 2 or more hives to start out with.  That should tell you something, good advice.  I started with only one hive due to expenses, $35.00 for a 10 frame full of bees in the 60's.  For a twelve year old, back then that was a lot of money.

Take the bee classes and find a mentor.

[iddee]

35.00 for a beehive in the sixties?? You better believe that was a lot. I bought a house on 4 lots in 1963 and the payments were only 44.00 a month, and they were hard to make.  48 hours at work, with 8 hours being time and a half, netted me 31.00 per week. That's over a week's wages for a hive.
   

[cao]

I started with 3.  It worked for me.  I would say 2-4 would be a good starting point.

[chux]

Never start with less than 2.
Never start with more than 5.
After the first year, you will agree.

Good advice. Three is the number. Take the class and find a mentor too.

[220]

Jump straight in and do the course when you get a chance.
I started with 1 nuc, picked up 2 more hives a week later, did a cut out 4 weeks after that and split 2 hives a fortnight ago. Less than 2 months after starting I had 6 hives, had swarm cell present on 3 hives when I inspected a week ago so may split again.
Hasn't cost me much for bees but equipment gets dear when you need more boxes and frames every week.

I would say 2 as a minimum, not only can you use resources from one to help the other if needed being able to compare hives makes it a lot easier to spot problems. You might not know what is wrong but you will see something isn't right and can start looking for what.

I still haven't done a course, local club meeting have all clashed with work so my education has been forums and just jumping in and doing it. I do know a few people that have been keeping 1 or 2 hives for 3 seasons and my experience in 2 months has been greater than theirs. They worry to much about things so aren't game to try them, they want to do splits, mark queens, swarm catch or cut outs but haven't been game to try it. Just jump in nothing like hands on experience as a teacher.

[BeeMaster2]

I say at least 2. If you only get one, it may be a gang buster hive or it might bee a dud. With 2 you have a better chance of getting at least one good hive to see what is normal.

Jim

[little john]

I usually advise a minimum of two and a half hives - the 'half' being a nuc.  The two hives can then support each other during the season (and enable the beekeeper to make comparisons).  The nuc - as I see it - is the equivalent of a spare wheel - bl##dy useful in an emergency, like if one queen should be accidentally killed by the beekeeper out of season, or turns out to be a dud.

So - three's a good number.
LJ

[Acebird]

My wife and i are disagreeing...

Happy wife is a happy life.  You get blamed less for doing things wrong when you do what she wants. 
My wife wanted bees so she bought a hive and some bees and two weeks after we got the bees she said OK they are yours now, you can take care of them.  Initially I wanted nothing to do with bees and was totally ignorant of their value.
The primary difference between getting one hive or two hives in the beginning is that the initial investment is double or 1/2 depending on how you look at it.  It costs just a little bit more to buy one hive the first year and get another one the second year than it does to get two from the start.  What I am saying is finances can affect the decision.  You might be able to afford one but not two.  In my view it is better to get one now then to wait until you can afford two.  Bees don't read books so even if you get two they can be completely different and starting out new you will not know which one is normal.
I agree that 3 hives are required to be sustainable if at lease one of them is full size or all of them are full size.

[yes2matt]

Maybe compromise. Buy one nuc. Spend the money budgeted for the other nuc (s) on more boxes, frames, tops and bottoms. Enough for three hives. Build the nuc thru the flow and split into three small colonies in June, then go into winter with three colonies.

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[Acebird]

That is almost a workable plan if you had a lot of experience and you knew what you were doing.  I don't see that working for someone new.

[lazy shooter]

I started with three packages.  The reason was because I bought three used hive boxes, complete with all of the frames from a woman who had recently been widowed.  The reason for purchasing the hives was to help the widow out.  I paid six hundred bucks for the hives, and at the time had not made up my mind to keep bees.  My wife decided we should keep some bees, so I ordered three packages. 

The packages arrived via the US Post Office and we installed them after "googling" (How to install package honey bees).  All three packages made it through the winter.  That was six or seven years back, and since then I have kept six or seven hives per year.  I have never been to a beekeeping seminar.  I have a good friend that on occasion, comes to help me with the bees.  He is an excellent beekeeper, and I have learned from him and from forums such as this one.

You can do it, don't fear ordering more bees. 

PS  I think  many beekeepers spend too much time meddling in their bee hives.  The bees know how to do it.

[lazy shooter]

As an add-on to the above post, I want all of you posters to keep in mind that it seldom freezes in San Antonio.  I lived 10 miles west of San Antone for five years, and some years there was not a freeze.  I had pepper plants that lived through the winter a couple of times.  This is an easy environment for beekeeping.  His honey bees will have forage in February.

[yes2matt]

That is almost a workable plan if you had a lot of experience and you knew what you were doing.  I don't see that working for someone new.

I agree, sort of. I don't remember where I read the recommendation to make a split your first year. But I agree with it. I also think it's difficult to mess up a walkaway split. And the person who sells the nuc will probably recommend to keep them on feed all summer, so the feeding question has to be addressed anyway.

I'm in my second year so obviously I don't know much. But I remember my bee school spent a disproportionate amount of time talking about bee diseases, and prob could have taught more management technique.

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[JackM]

Never start with less than 2.
Never start with more than 5.
After the first year, you will agree.

Yep

[JackM]

Maybe compromise. Buy one nuc. Spend the money budgeted for the other nuc (s) on more boxes, frames, tops and bottoms. Enough for three hives. Build the nuc thru the flow and split into three small colonies in June, then go into winter with three colonies.

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I disagree, you will be sending 3 weak hives into winter.  Do splits before the flow.