Hey savingdogs--My husband and I built topbar hives (4 of them) for probably under $30. I don't have the receipts in front of me, but we had farm lumber available and just had to pay for a bit of particle board, plastic windows, hinges and screws/nails. Each 3# colony with queen cost $75 from Dadant. Our total cost for 2 hives the first year was probably about $250-300, including cheap feeders, sugar for feeding, 2 masks (no suits), a couple hive tools, and things I cannot remember but probably bought.
So, we went the cheap route (homemade hives, no foundation, frames, etc.) and it was still pretty expensive.
We could have cut most of our costs by getting swarms or cut-outs instead of buying colonies, but that's pretty advanced for a brand-new beekeeper. Good luck!
ETA: Oh, try backyardbeekeeping.com, Google Michael Bush's website and get onto some forums. I like beemaster.com.
i think we are into it for several hundred bucks. the hive alone (beez + queen) was almost $100. we found the unassembled hive kits were the cheapest and easiest way to go. we could put them together and didnt have to worry about doing all the carpentry and such.
the extractor was the most expensive thing - about $200.
and you dont really get anything the first year. here in our 2nd year we got 35 pounds of honey from one hive (a couple weeks ago). and we were lucky enough to get a wild swarm.
we use blue sky bee keeping b/c they are close to use here in ohio.
I've got about $150 into my first hive and equipment...I went with homemade topbar hive also and just had to buy my bees. One could go much cheaper if they got with a local beek club and found out who was doing swarm recovery, get some mentoring and ask for bee donations in the form of swarms or nucs.
I like Beemaster.com also....nice folks, eager to help.