distance between hives

[Cuckmere couple]

is there a rule of thumb?

im guessing people will say 3 feet to avoid drift, help minimise robbing etc

but i also know people stack hives, so, does it matter much?

 

[Ian123]

Bees will survive however close you pack them, but 3ft would be a good rule of thumb(min). After all you want enough room to move lift and stack boxes...Ive seen a few be sheds with entrances a few inches apart, and ive also seen a whole line of these go down with nosema when theres been few other cases on site. Would guess drifting bees passed it around. Obviously 1 or 2 things to think about but then you also need to consider the space you have and make use the best you can

 

[Cuckmere couple]

yes....similar to my thoughts...hmmm

got about 8-10 foot left in a space nd probably should only put one in there!

 

[Swarm]

Plenty of room for two.

 

[Walrus]

Four hives to a pallet seems fairly standard:

https://imgur.com/a/mdfBETA

 

[enrico]

Far enough apart so that when one falls over it doesn't knock three others over too..........been there and done that! Or so close they can't fall over!!!!!
E

 

[Curly green fingers]

I like to leave lots of room , the pallets I use are small enough for one or two hives .

Sent from my Nokia 1 using Tapatalk

 

[Beefriendly]

Makes little odds.
If they are your bees then drifting is not an issue...they will all still make honey for you. If you are worried about spread of disease...drones move between hives indiscriminately...so larger distances won't stop any disease spreading.
I don't think it's anything to loose sleep over.
I have mine side by side...oh and the entrances all face in the same direction.
If you are going to break the rules...break them

 

[Curly green fingers]

I have mine facing the same way also , I think it makes no odds how close really the nucs I'm going to make from two colony's this year will all face the mother hives entrances facing each other with a gap of 1m between .

There's some sky scrapers there befriendly

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

four inches apart is fine, although, in the season I like to keep my hives two to a three hive stand as the two foot gap between the hives is handy for stacking supers on whilst inspecting. Stands also being two foot apart so I can walk/stand inbetween for inspections.

 

[Cuckmere couple]

ok...thanks for that...lots of good pictures which help planning

 

[Poly Hive]

Hmm.. so four to a pallet is the US system.

Problem?

Possibly.. please have a wee think here.

My minimum for what its worth is 6 feet. and no two boxes the same. Helps a lot.

PH

 

[Hivemaker.]

Hmm.. so four to a pallet is the US system.

Also a system widely used in the UK, mainly by migratory commercial operations for more honey production.

 

[Walrus]

Hmm.. so four to a pallet is the US system.

Problem?

Possibly.. please have a wee think here.

PH

Just relaying what many commercial beekeepers do, including in the UK.The photo link on my post was from one of Murrays apiaries. He seems to do it quite a lot. Also seen it at BS Honey Bees, ElmTreeBees in UK.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Just relaying what many commercial beekeepers do, including in the UK.The photo link on my post was from one of Murrays apiaries. He seems to do it quite a lot. Also seen it at BS Honey Bees, ElmTreeBees in UK.

And seen it with a lot of other commercials as well.

 

[Ian123]

Also a system widely used in the UK, mainly by migratory commercial operations for more honey production.

Yes but in this country it normally involves some crappy half rotten pallet that snaps or you stick your foot through it ...

 

[deemann1]

four inches apart is fine, although, in the season I like to keep my hives two to a three hive stand as the two foot gap between the hives is handy for stacking supers on whilst inspecting. Stands also being two foot apart so I can walk/stand inbetween for inspections.

Nice looking floors on them hives , could you share details?

 

[Poly Hive]

Sorry I didn't realise we were discussing a commercial set up and yes very common in that system.


But were we not talking about an amateur set up?

PH

 

[Anduril]

Nice looking floors on them hives , could you share details?

This will give you an idea

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=579314&postcount=13

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Sorry I didn't realise we were discussing a commercial set up and yes very common in that system.


But were we not talking about an amateur set up?

PH

No -we were just talking how far apart/close you can have your hives.
Didn't realise there are different rules for bee farmers and hobbyists.