First class was Feb 21 and has a lot more people in it than I anticipated. I'll have to find out how many exactly but off the cuff, I'd guess 50+-. It will be interesting to see how many make how many classes and how many drop out along the way. I know that I am fortunate in that I am older (a dreadful boomer), who worked all my life and saved up for retirement and I can afford such luxuries but many others do not have the money to invest in the hobby and I expect that some will throw in the towel when they figure out how much is needed up front.
Sometimes even a blind squirrel finds a nut and it looks like this might be the case for me on this...I found a nuc from a local beekeeper through the club's website for a start. To make it nicer, she is one of the two instructors of the classes. To make it even better, we apparently get a mentor as part of the class and she is my mentor. Could it get any better? But then if I kill her bees, it won't look good.
My goal(s) for my first year is(are) to buy one nuc, catch a swarm and have both survive the winter. If I don't have a swarm by the time one is needed to have a healthy colony to survive a winter, I'll buy another. My only knowledge thus far has come from here, my neighbor's involvement and reading on Reddit. Oh, and watching some vids on youtube. Then I have a class every month to walk us through the current phase. I passively search the used book store for books but thus far, they have had none. From what I have absorbed thus far, I view my goals as a good, doable challenge but I understand that I'll be lucky if I succeed. If I have two going into winter and none coming out, I'll be disappointed. I have confidence that my available time, you folks here, the class, and my mentor will get me through. I'm not too bad at following directions when I know that I am clueless. Doing things my own way comes in further down the road.