Margaret is so right about the some websites making it sound like a lot of work. And it can be. Watching videos on beekeeping can quickly make you feel like this is an unclimbable mountain. I'll let you in a secret (sshhhhh) I only open my hives a few times per year. I don't know how to tell drone comb from regular brood and I can't tell the different between a worker and the drones. I have trouble identifying which bee is the queen and I never look for her.
I keep hives and I swap out supers (or occasionally just a few frames) and it works fine for me. I don't feed them and I have never medicated them. I have strong hives and get lots of honey. If I ever fail, I guess at that time I'll figure out what went wrong and correct my behavior to prevent it in the future. But I'm about 5 years in and still pretending to be a beekeeper and I'm being successful.
