Beekeeping is an ancient endeavor. People have been involved in beekeeping for 1000's of years in one form or another, but modern beekeeping came about when the Langstroth hive was developed in 1878. This type of bee hive is stilled used to this day.

Beekeeping for beginners is not as complicated as it first seems. There are a few rules to master and I would certainly recommend getting a beekeeping guide to have as a reference for yourself, so you know what to do when and have details for exactly what to expect from your endeavor.

Overall though bees take care of themselves and are relatively easy to care for.

You can find a great guide to beekeeping for beginners here. 

Dadant also has a great site on beekeeping.  They sell all kinds of beekeeping supplies and publish the American Bee Journal.

When you are starting out, I also recommend that you find a beekeeping forum to join online so that you can ask questions from experienced beekeepers.

One of the biggest fears that people have about beekeeping is getting stung by bees.  Unless you are allergic to bee stings (in which case you should never keep bees), then you should have relatively little problem with getting stung as long as you wear protective clothing.  You will get stung occasionally, but beestings are not very painful and some people even think they are therapeutic.

Most beginner beekeepers want to keep bees for honey production. This is a good thing since domestic honey bees can produce far more honey than they actually need. And fresh honey is absolutely delicious.

When you are keeping a bee colony for honey production you will need to buy a bee hive, a honey extractor (this can wait until the end of the season), and a queen bee with a starter colony. You can also gather a swarm of bees, but this is not usually adviced to someone just starting out.

Bees actually do not need flowers right next door as they will travel for miles to find nectar, and nearly every city and suburban setting has plenty of flowering plants for bees to feed on.

Many people have beehives in their backyard or garden, for an overview of this go the the excellent backyard beekeeping site. If you can't keep your hives in your backyard, a local farm may welcome them as they promote pollination.

Be sure to check out your local regulations before you locate your hive so that you comply with the law, and always be considerate of your neighbors - a jar or two of honey go a long way toward them welcoming your hive.

Beekeeping is an interesting and rewarding hobby.  If you are considering starting even on a small scale, I would recommend it.

Good Luck!