Sounds like your big cost is the hives. I am starting up and built 2 hives and frames for the price of lumber about $70. That included 4 deep bodies and top cover, bottom board, excluder, frames and enough lumber left over to build 4 medium supers. So for me its like:
$70 lumber for hives and frames
$35 for foundations, I may not use them and go foundationless, need to learn more about it.
$200 for the other gear you mentioned
$170 (2) 4# bee packages
$50 food
$525 total or $490 if I go without foundations.
I'm sure I missed some stuff though, but saved a bunch building hives and frames.
greg watkevich

It's a thought. What plans are you using, to build the hives?

Look at Dadant's or Mann Lake's website. All you really need is two unasembled hive bodies plus frames and foundation. $7-8 each plus $20-30 dollars in frames depending on what you choose. You can make your own cover and bottom board but if you decide to just buy them they won't be more than ten bucks each.
Bees are free if you are patient... I have fifty hives and half of them were started by swarms that I caught. Let your city/county/fire department/police department know that you want a swarm or two and they'll be happy to call you as they are ussually the ones that hear about bees first and aren't set up to handle them. Swarms are great, just shake them in your box and walk away. You don't even need gloves/veil as they don't sting until they build up some.
As far as medication, a little management can cut that cost down to almost nothing. There are succesful beekeppers who do not treat AT ALL and if you buy a queenn from them you may be able to keep bees and never treat.

We just bought a beginner's package + 3# package of bees... was a little over $400. We decided to go ahead and start with 2 hives this year (which isn't necessary) so it will be another $68 for another package of bees and $85 to upgrade to the beginner package for 2 hives.

If you decide to purchase a Langstroth hive body from Dadant, you will find that unassembled hive bodies are $25. Unassembled frames are (10) for $10. The hive body with 10 frames is $59 or for (2) $108. You will also need (20)foundations for each at ~$1.00 apiece.
SO plan on, about $35 for each unassembled hive body with unassembled frames. Or $59 for each assembled hive body with assembled frames. Or build your own, you can build more for less.
Greg watkevich

If you want to do it real cheap, try making a top bar hive. Michael Bush has instructions on his website bushfarms dot com for a real easy and cheap hive. There are other websites that have instructions for more complex hives, but they take longer to build. Some of us in Nebraska are doing fine with top bar hives. I myself have one, in addition to my Langstroth hives.

How do you extract honey on top bar?

Most people harvest from top bar hives by cutting the comb from the top bar, and then crushing and straining it. Michael Bush has details and pictures on how he does it with plastic five gallon buckets. He kept bees for over twenty years before he bought an extractor. Now he has 9/18 radial extractor. His website is bushfarms dot com. There is also a flat extractor that is made for top bars, but it is hard to find and I cannot remember what it is called and who makes it. Top bar hives were used hundreds, maybe thousands of years ago. They are widely used in third world countries because it is cheaper to make them, but they are getting popular among hobby beekeepers in the USA. BackYardHive.com sells a dvd on top bar beekeeping, but I think there are probably videos on the internet that can be viewed for free.

Hmmm. My first year (2006) I spent $500 and had two hives. I only run mediums. Boxes are about $10 apiece. I think I had 8. Two packages at about $150. Frames with foundation. Top, bottom, and inner covers $60 or so. Jacket with integrated hood cost about $35. Hive tool $4. Hive top feeders $20.

I never use gloves or a smoker (although I have both) and rarely use my jacket/hood. You can do it for a lot cheaper than $900. The good news is that you collect more equipment year after year. I now have several more boxes, screened bottom boards, feeders, hive stands, etc. You don't need to buy everything all at once. I have had several hives that for a season had a piece of plywood for a top cover.

Sounds about right except I would NOT get medication. Also if you have a beekeeping club join because usually old beekeepers are selling old equipment and sometimes they build new hives and sell them for good prices. I got 4 hives a bottom board, frames, foundation, inner cover, and a top for only $400 new and painted and assembled from a beekeeper. Also I good place to find club and meet beekeepers are in fairs they usually have a booth set up. Happy Beekeeping! -Alex

I'm interested in starting as well. I've been told it's dangerous to start in Arizona due to the risk of hybrid bees. How true is this?
I have quite a few citrus trees plus a garden on my half acre. Plus, most of my neighbors have citrus trees so there would be plenty of pollen. If I get bees, I'll plan on planting a year round pollen crop specially for them.
Sounds like another fun hobby. If I don't do it now I will be doing it when I move to Texas in a few years and have 30-40 acres and my own farm!

Tracydr, I have never heard of the hybrid bees unless you are referring to the African Honey bee. Which I can almost promise you will not get African bees because there is no one in the US keeping these bees. You would also be able to tell by the level of aggression. If your looking for bees to pollinate your citrus trees you have to have a lot of them most of the time they will go to "wild" plants. And depending on what type of crop your plant they may or may not pollinate it. For example Clover or Alfalfa the bees will most likely pollinate.

$900 is an outrageous amount of money to be paying for 2 hives. Right now I can get here in South carolina from a local beekeeper a hive full of bee and 3 super for about $100 a piece. I got 4 hives when I first began for about $800. One way to get cheaper hives is too find a local bee club and usually older beekeepers are selling there equipment for cheaper. But remember expensive is not always better. Happy Beekeeping! -Alex

I just finished a 5 month (one day a month) class, and bought 2 hives with 2 med supers each complete, and all necc gear (veil gloves etc) for 621. I believe everything came from Dadant, but I got it thru the class.

I initially spent about $1200 the first year. This included new equipment and bees for 5 hives, 3 electric fences, bottles, labels, candle molds etc.

beekeeper961. you obviously haven't been to the southwest recently. The Africanized hybrid bees are EVERYWHERE in the southwest. They're wild and very aggressive. I have a relative that has hundreds of hives and he says that within a year, at most two of getting his bees started, virtually all of them have become africanized. The africanized bees take over domestic hives, kill the queen and install their own queen. Originally it was hoped that the italian bee and african bee would hybridize, however more often than not, the africanized ones just take it all over so you end up with some not very tame bees.

here's a link that shows their spread into Southern US.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africanized_bee

and to answer the person in AZ, I'm also thinking of getting started with some bees and I was told that as long as you make sure every year that you have a fresh italian bee queen in there every year, they should be ok. Obviously my relative with many hives doesn't want to go through the trouble of re-queening all his hives because he takes them to orchards away from the city and places where it's ok to have the africanized ones, but to have them close to the house, I would definitelly make sure they have a tame queen.

Remember your very first time ever handling bees and trying to be calm and gentle but its taking too long and the buzz is getting ominously louder and you were only half finished hunting for that elusive queen? I think a beginner needs to learn how to smoke bees even if they get so amazingly good they don't need to somedayl
You are a beginner. You need the smoker.
You also need the hat and veil. Stings hurt, esp on the face and neck and can really raise one's level of apprehension despite all rational understanding that the bees are just protecting their own.

There's nothing wrong with starting with one hive. Easier to manage and you can see if you like beekeeping and spread your costs.
You will get by, as I have for three years, without a beesuit but just the hat and veil.
Wear light pants, tuck your pants into your socks, an ample collared shirt you which you can button at the neck and will be tucked up into your veil. Tuck shirt into pants. The item I rarely used is the expensive leather gloves which just make made me clumsier handling the honey supers.

I have not medicated and did not lose my bees to disease or mites. I did lose them to winter cold because I didn't insulate.

That's my two cents worth and I'm only three years out from being a beginner. I work full time and have other interests, so this is truly a "hobby" for me. I'm glad I began slowly and kinda low key.

I hope you do not get discouraged. Do it however you can on the cheap and fall in love with these beautiful creatures.