Hi there! I'm taking my first beekeeping class with the Chatham County Beekeepers' Association and am excited to start tending honey bees. We live on 35, mostly forested acres have some large gardens. I'm struggling to makes sense of all the conflicting advice I read/hear. I'm a scientist, which makes the cacophony particularly painful. I'd like to hear from folks about where to buy the best packages - I think there are a few major suppliers but I've heard tales of weak queens at some of them. I've read about the wonders of disease-resistant Russian bees, but most of the beekeepers here have Italian bees and warn that the Russians are aggressive. Besides, if I am successful at beekeeping, my virgin queens will likely mate with Italian drones, there being a dearth of Russians here. A friend has offered me used equipment (medium boxes) but one source says NEVER use used and one chap here suggests putting the boxes in a deep freeze for a while to kill anything. I'll be posting these questions on the forum, but if anyone wants to leap in, come on in, the water's fine!