Regardless of the choice of package vs nucs, I think the biggest advantage
one can offer a new beekeeper is a drawn box of comb formerly used as a
honey super.
Used brood comb poses the usual risks of brood disease issues, and
presenting either a package or a nuc with undrawn frames means far less
chance of harvestable honey that first year.

I prefer seeing packages started by new beekeepers, as there seems to be a
never-ending procession of nucs of questionable value.
As we keep bees in NYC, a small island chain off the east coast of the US,
we do what we can to not import problems from the mainland, and we treat all
packages with oxalic acid to eliminate varroa to the extent we can.
 

I'm out in California for a few days, and the local media out here is awash
with "the drought".  Suddenly everyone is paying attention to how much water
it takes to grow a tomato or an almond, as the agricultural uses of water
have not been restricted, in what I would call a "reverse Chinatown".
Nestle has no friends at all, as they bottle water on the lands of the
Morongo tribe, just west of Palm Springs. "Recycle My Water Bottles At
Wounded Knee?"

Meanwhile, they continue to sit next to the massive Pacific Ocean, and have
very reliable conditions for the operation of solar panels in vast areas of
the state.
I wonder what they might work out if they considered these two natural
features as assets.

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