I used to have a few hives many many moons ago; today we just maintain a hefty patch of "bee food" plants, mint in particular seems very popular with our local buzzers.
Last season the GF had ripped out a lot of the mint & our "local" bees had taken to visiting the hummingbird feeders, much to the dismay of the hummers & the GF.
I started to supply the bees with their own feeder & sugar water; they prefer a much sweeter mix than the hummers so whipping up a preferred bee snack was easy.
This season we have about 4x the amount of mint going, along with passiflora, jasmine, tobacco & runner beans that all seem to be in a near constant state of blossoming, so the bees have lots of food.
I still keep being tempted to set up a couple more hives though, but really don't need the extra work load. Looking at the current prices is enough to finish convincing me, & the near-constant bee shortage is another good deterrent.
Nobody has offered me a free swarm though, one of my former excellent sources of bees.
Once you have a couple empty hives, have your veil & smoker handy; post notes on bulletin boards at your local grocery, hardware, & building supply stores for "free" bee swarm removal.
A lot of times folks will come across hives inside walls during remodeling, just verify that the critters are actually honey bees & not plain old hornets, yellowjackets or other critters that don't produce any honey.
I've had many a fun ride in a car full of bees, just wishing I'd get pulled over for one of those "routine traffic stops".
If you need any "old" books on beekeeping; the "internet archive" has a pile of out-of-copyright material.
Have a look-see:
Internet Archive Search: beekeeping
They've also got a good assortment of grafting books & very many of the materials & techniques have gone unchanged over the past hundred years or so.