I found a neat link http://www.biobees.com/ that has plans for getting started with a Top Bar Hive (TBH).

Normal box bee hives, Langsford white box type are fairly difficult to make on your own, requiring intricate parts and tight tolerances...."beespace". Or you can also buy a starter kit for around $300 with hives pre-made.

The TBH, by comparison, is super simple and inexpensive to make. Apparently this technique for beekeeping pre-dates the current stacked box methods by several thousand years.

I am just about finished making my first hive using scrap lumber from around the garage. Total construction cost = $0 except for my time.

This not-quite finished version hangs on chains at working height between two posts.