Neat! With my luck though all the wasps and yellow jackets would like those homes. I battle them every year. I killed my first queen yesterday (it's getting warm, they're starting to emerge). Gotta find my traps today and get them up.
I got my hive from Kelley's (https://kelleybees.com/) - if you sign up for their newsletter you'll get the free shipping alerts when they have them, otherwise it's not a good deal. There's also a really cheap place near me called Humble Abodes, but again, you're going to get killed with shipping since you're not local. I purchased Kelley's because it was cypress wood, Humble only uses cheap pine and we are so damp here I was worried that the pine would decompose quickly. I will probably get another hive next year if I don't manage to kill this one and get it from Humble so I can support local (and compare the woods). I'm sure there's someone near you that makes them. A hive should run you between 80 and 150$ for a Langstroth. Top bar might be slightly cheaper but if you're new starting out most keepers recommend you start with the traditional Langstroth. BF has plans to build a top bar but I told him not this year. A Langstroth would be too hard to build all the components on your own.
It's getting late this year. I was lucky to have found someone that was still selling packages. You may still be able to get a nuc or even a swarm or if someone goes south, a package. My bees are coming from Georgia. A lady drives down, fills her van with packages, and then drives back up here and sells them. I pre-purchased one of those. Kelley's also still has Italian packages available, but I'm too far away to have it shipped here.
