I want to buy a hive to help with the local bee population. Harvesting honey is just a bonus.
Do I HAVE to replace the frames from time to time to keep the hive healthy? I don’t mind opening the tap to get a jar of honey, but getting a bee suit and smoker is a different level.
Also, do I need to get a starter colony?
If getting a bee suit and smoker is a different level, beekeeping may not be for you, because, unless you’re prepared to engage a beekeeper to manage your hive, you’ll need to get a bee suit & smoker to make it easier to manage your bees.
You definitely need a starter colony of some description, unless you’re lucky enough for a swarm to move into your hive. Many have tried that, with little success.
To help the bee population, as well as other pollinators, plant lots of native flowering plants.
So, yes? The frames need to be rotated?
Are you talking brood or Flow frames? Brood frames need to be manipulated as a matter of course in good beekeeping. Flow frames don’t need to be rotated, however one forum member has contemplated retiring his Flow frames every 5 years.
Hi Jason, I wonder if by ‘rotating’ you might mean ‘inspecting’. Inspecting is when the beekeeper opens the hive and lifts out frames, turns them to see both sides, to check on colony health etc. It sounds like you are hoping that using a Flow hive will help you avoid doing this. Flow harvesting is definitely is less involved than other harvest methods, but as Jeff is saying, you really can’t skip the between steps of taking proper care of a colony. Fortunately, as he mentioned, there are lots of other good things you can do to help pollinators, and if you’re still curious about what it takes to be a beekeeper, maybe you can connect with one nearby and observe an inspection!
Hi Jason,
As the others have mentioned - yes you will need to care for and manage your hive to ensure that your bees are healthy and free of disease.
A suit and smoker are certainly recommended for this.
Here in NSW Australia the minimum requirement is two inspections per year, however, most beekeepers inspect their hives far more often - roughly every couple of weeks, though it’s very seasonal (you don’t usually inspect through winter, and need to keep a closer eye on them through spring to prevent swarms).
Please check our our website FAQs for a bit more about what’s involved and feel free to email us if you need any further info. We also have an online beekeeping course if you decide you’d like to get more involved and need some assistance with this.
You’ll usually be able to source a starter colony (nuc) from your local beekeeping club, who will also be an invaluable ongoing source of local beekeeping knowledge.
Please let me know if we can help in any way or you have further questions.
Thank you for the replies. I will need to look into local bee clubs.
I literally have no beekeeping knowledge or experience. I don’t know the difference between a brood or flow frame.
I was asking if the hive is self sustainable (I mean, no one harvests hives in nature), or is there a lot of maintenance.
I don’t have any experience, however I am a fast and dedicated learner (I’m a bit autistic so I can laser focus and obsess over things). I love learning things I don’t know until I know too much about it. I have been running a successful reef tank for years, so I can pay attention to the details.
That being said, I don’t want another full time job. If it’s a couple of hours a month, no problem. If it’s a couple of hours a day, I can’t handle that.
Hives will sustain themselves, but in the US, regulations require that any deliberate hive (in a hive box, not in a tree or a wall) must be managed actively by the beekeeper. That includes regular inspections of all frames of honeycomb for disease and pests, together with treatment of problems when needed. I am certain that Massachusetts will have such a set of regulations - both state and city versions. 
That should be sufficient once you have learned the basics. Most beginners are slow with inspections to start, but speed up with experience. I can inspect my hives in about 20 minutes per hive on a good day. Takes longer if the bees are really grumpy, but that isn’t often. 
Hi Jason,
If you are open to learning I think you will find bees are fascinating to learn about.
I’d allow about half an hour hands on per fortnight, as a rough guide.
You’ll spend a bit more time earlier on just reading up about them.
Enjoy 
So it’s a requirement? I had no idea. I know they are a protected species.
Massachusetts is very conservation based, so I am sure you are correct.
Indeed it is, and most cities stipulate that if somebody complains that you are not managing your hive, the local inspector can remove it from the property.
I don’t think that you would find the inspections onerous. Most people inspect once every couple of weeks from Spring to Fall, and treat for Varroa mites (they kill bees) about two or three times per year. In your climate, there would be little to do over winter except for feeding if their stores are running low. You don’t need to inspect for that, just “heft” (lift one side) the hive and see if it feels light.
It varies according to the rules of each jurisdiction, but most have some sort of minimum requirement for inspections as I understand it. As with any animal we domesticate, I also feel that we have a bit of an ethical imperative to ensure that our bee colonies are healthy and thriving and - I suspect you will grow to love them and want to make sure they are doing ok. The health of our bees can also have an impact on others in the area, since they can forage for a few miles - so from a biosecurity point of view, some diseases are notifiable by law.
Do I need to register with the state?
Usually you register with your city - I would search their website for beekeeping regulations. Most have a County Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures, which is where the city and county beekeeping inspectors work. If you can’t find a local beekeeping club, the inspector’s office would be a great place to find all of the local requirements 
When I take on the responsibility for keeping anything alive, I take it seriously.
Wether it is a fish, coral, clam, snail, etc I personally make it a priority. The bees would be no different.
We have 5 rescue animals (3 dogs, 2 cats) that dominate our lives. No kids, so hobbies fill my free time.
Here you do, yes. You can check on your local regulations with your local council, department of primary industries, department of agriculture, or similar local body. In our area, the department of primary industries includes a free beekeeping book with your registration, and also has a service whereby they will notify you of any diseases in the area - so they’re very useful. You shouldn’t need to do a test to join or anything like that.
it sounds like you may have the attention to detail and capacity to learn to be able to become a beekeeper- but forget ever being a ‘bee haver’. Be a beekeeper- or just buy honey from the shops and plant bee friendly plants. Beekeeping is not a few hours a day- just an few hours a week maybe in spring- less time the rest of the year.
If you don’t have the time or inclination to learn about beekeeping having bees isn’t for you. It’s no different than buying a puppy but never walking it or taking it to the vet- or having a fish tank but never cleaning the filter…