U-configured apiary layout

[Uncle Betty]

Is the 12 feet the maximum distance between hive entrances? Do you have a fence/hedge around the apiary - if so what distance should you be allowing between the back of the hives and the boundary barrier?

Yes, my colonies will be between a boundary and a hedge that screens the apiary from a path.

I am setting them away from the hedge so that it is at my back, but I can lift and turn comfortably/place a roof on the ground in comfort/not get the veil caught etc.

The 12ft is just the distance I will have between opposite entrances if I maintain that set-up all round.