starter kit advice

[claus]

My wife wants to get bees next year and sign up for the Loudon county bee keepers class. I am 100% sure she will follow through, so I would like to get a more useful birthday present this year, some kind of a beehive starter kit. There are so many different companies that make them. some look sturdy, some look very cheap. Does anybody here have bees and can make a recommendation on hives that are suited for this climate?

[David R. Harris]

I'm new to beekeeping this year and I started with Dadant. They have a master beekeeper starter kit with everything you need to get started. The woodenware is assembled and painted, which I liked. I wanted to focus on the bees and not how to build hive bodies the first year.  Good luck!

[Donna and Mike Kropotkin]

Sorry for the late response to this. It's usually best to take the class first before deciding what equipment to buy. There are many variations possible and each beekeeper must decide for themself which size and shape will be best for them. The first class of the LBA course discusses equipment.