For 2008 - Bee keeping

I haven't been able to persuade my wife to let me buy some Pigs or even Chickens but she has compromised somewhat and agreed to let me try my hand at Bee keeping (the words why would you want to do that and mad cropped up in the conversation but still...). I'm not sure why I'm driven to want to keep Bees but it's something I've wanted to try for as long as I can remember. It's also a topic that I know nothing about so I am feverishly scouring the web for more information. From what I can gather you need a quiet place to put the hive, a swarm to seed it and of course a good quality place for the bees to live. Then you leave them to it.

We live in the middle of some wonderful countryside with a good mix of flowers and farmed crops so hopefully they'll find rich nectar pickings in the local area but like I say I need to read up a bit more about what I am about to undertake. If there's anyone out there with some sage advice for the novice been keeper then I would love to hear it.