I have an 8 ft hive stand. On it are two Lang's hives...one at each end. I just put the TBH in the middle with a center entrance. There are no bees in the TBH at this time...so I can remove it or extend the ends of the stand at least 8 inches on either end for more space if necessary.
(http://s17.postimg.org/opi52rsij/003cssm.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/opi52rsij/)
So far, I have been able to keep the big red ants off this stand....that is why I am trying to use this stand for all the hives.
Cool langstroth and topbars at the same place. I want to try tbh too in the near future.
Carol,
Nice looking hives... :)
I've seen people with hives butted up against one another, I try to leave enough room between them to fit my hive tool comfortably so that when I'm trying to work one hive, I'm not jammed up by the one next to it. In a perfect world, more spacing is better, but if you're trying to maximize the use of a stand, I'd say don't worry about it, you "may" get a little bee drift....but that's not really a big deal.
I don't think you will have any issues since you painted your hives so nicely (looks awesome by the way!) - the patterns will give the bees something to orient to.
Thanks all....glad everyone thinks it is OK....did not think of the orienting thing when painting...but good idea.
My hives are all touching...
Mine are all on 4-way pallets w/ less then 1/2inch between them side to side and 2"s back to back
When placing hives close together, drifting can be reduced by facing the entrances in different directions.