Started beekeeping in the spring of 2009 with one top bar hive. I live in the mountains of Idaho at 6200 feet elevation. Currently, keeping 8 beehives; 7 top bars and 1 langstroth.
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My Local Bees 
Hi. I manage a small ranch south of Driggs. We have about 2 acres of wildflowers are are looking for some boxes to pollinate and get some honey. any ideas? Thanks
I do have some ideas. My preference for beehives is the top bar hive. I find the experience of beekeeping more enjoyable with the top bars. It seems less intrusive, but other beekeepers in the valley have disagreed with me. In my experience bees kept in the top bar hives do produce less honey. One theory for the less honey is because the top bar hives are foundationless which allows the bees to build their own comb; bees spend more of their energy building comb than storing honey. Each year I am able to harvest some honey comb from the hives; fresh honey comb is the best! Just starting out I would recommend getting two hives in order to compare. There is a beekeeper day in Blackfoot on May 10th where 2J Honey sells packages of bees. Reed Findlay the U of I extension agent in Pocatello is a beekeeper and teaches classes each year; he prefers the Langstroth hives. Good luck and keep in touch.
Thats very helpful. What does one do with the bees during our 7 month winters? Is it pretty easy for a beginner like myself to keep bees? how much does a pack of bees cost? guess I could google these questions. thanks, I appreciate the insight and knowledge.