how important is it to be level with hives , I have them on 3 foot rings of scaffold I wasnt using they were level but are now leaning to the front some ground is wet from all the rain and legs of scaffold are sinking
i keep mine tilted forward so water doesn't pool in the hive. 3 feet off the ground is going to be hard to work.
I keep them down on the ladder rungs of scaffold maybe 1 1/2 ' off ground they work real nice and I had no other use for them
I keep all my hives with a slight tilt to the front to prevent rain pooling on the landing board, cover, or in the hive itself. SLIGHT is the key word....I am talking a half inch difference front to back, max. An inch or two difference my mess up their comb drawing. They'll tell you soon enough if you end up with a bunch of wonky comb. ;)
Level is more important if you're using foundationless frames. Even then, it's more about left to right (horizontal) level.
I don't worry about leveling the hives. I've got enough that they are leaning every which way. The only time I'll put effort into it is if they are unlevel enough that they are leaning enough to fall over as they get taller when honey flow is on.
Plumb them side to side.
I keep scrap wood shims in a bucket to do that. Otherwise, you will get brace comb, and the foundation will be drawn to different depths on the two sides. In extreme cases, they will build comb down to the adjacent bottom bar, which is a genuine mess.
Have some forward lean, so water doesn't pool on the entrance and flow back into the hive.
If you have foundationless frames, it's pretty critical (side to side). If not, it's not THAT critical, but a tall hive will tend to lean more as time goes on and finally fall over...
I am of the same opinion of everyone else... Side to side is more critical. I had leveled mine front to back also but water woud get into the hives and just sit there... Not good being there is no protection for inside of the hive; i.e. Primer, paint, etc... I put a 3/4 piece of wood on the backside to slope mine forward.... Good luck with the scaffolding --- you will have a use for it in the future--- Getting the honey supers on and off... :evil: