I'll pop in here. I love having bees. We got ours in May and probably have close to $700 in it. Between buying the bees, the hives, and the clothes. My husband just wears jeans & a long sleeve white shirt with a veil. I wear jeans, and got a jacket with a veil that attaches to it. Then we both have gloves. I was reading something about people using surgical latex gloves for bee keeping because they are puncture proof. I don't have any experience with that though.
If you are handy, you could do it for a lot less. All of our hives & frames we assembled ourselves, but they were precut.
Another idea, maybe google to see if there are any bee keeping clubs in your area, contact them and see if anyone would want to keep a hive or two at your place. I have a few people that keep mentioning that they want bees, but can't get them because of where they live. I just tell them that if they buy the stuff they can keep the bees at my place for free. I don't know if it's a thing or not, but i imagine beekeepers are always looking for places to keep their bees
