What Mrs River said... You can get crappy nucs just like you can packages. A NUC seller should SHOW you what you are buying, open the nuc, and insure there are LOTS of bees, and that the queen has a very good laying pattern. There should not be any drone cells, and the combs should be at least full, and not moth eaten and partially missing. if the comb is not yet dark that is a bonus. but it should not be OLD BLACK comb.
if you open a 5 frame nuc, and see two frames of bees and a queen with a tiny patch of brood, move on to the next nuc or find another seller.
It all gets easier with a LITTLE experience. Your going to kill bees, make mistakes, smoosh a queen, LOSE a queen or even FEAR you have lost a queen, when you really have not.. With each mistake made, the bees usually manage to fix whatever we mess up, if we allow them and or give them the time to do it.
it is confusing to read about keeping bees. Information overload can be terrible and overwhelming... Keeping bees is not that hard once you get your hands dirty... You dont NEED to get into the hive every week, but sometimes, especially when new you WANT to... in between those times, you can ask questions here.. I enjoy living vicariously through reading what your going through and trying to understand, and hope I can help answer your questions...
YOU CAN keep two hives, Period! If you want to have ONLY TWO HIVES, it is possible, but.... will mean a bit more work in managing those hives to keep their numbers in check. The bees entire purpose in life, is to SWARM and spread their genetics, with us much enthusiasm as a teenage boy.
You can make nucs and sell them. You can take a frame of brood and freeze it, or decap it and put it back in the hive.. the bees will clean out the cells and refill them... Both ways limit numbers, but most folks dont want to KILL the brood, so they make nucs.
You can buy carboard nucs, or you can make wooden ones and charge a deposit for the box. you can have another beek bring a ten frame with bottom board etc to your house and put the frames in HIS box..
having extra equipment is a necessity. I have gone into spring with enough extra stuff i knew I would never use it all, and then had to build MORE when I DID use it all. If you only want two, you just sell the extras. There is always someone who wants bees.
Get your bees, and spend your first year learning to keep them in a basic manner.. Stay away from gadgets, gizmos and left or right wing beekeeping.. stick to the basics, learn the things you need to learn as you go... after a while you will start to get some confidence... stand by.. bees are like wives, they WILL do what they must to shatter that confidence. Each time it happens, you learn more and get better.
that all sounds kind of scary... But, at the end of the day, when your sitting in your chair near the hives, with an ice cold beverage, watching the ladies orient, and begin bringing in pollen and nectar..... it is relaxing and enjoyable, and it feels good. It is one of the most relaxing things you can do... Inevitably, a bee will land on your hand or arm... it is also nice to gently lift your hand and say hello, look her over and talk to her before she flies off... Yep, enjoyable, addicting, and there is ALWAYS something to learn.
YES, you can keep two hives...... good luck with that!
