How far apart should the hives be?

Q. How far apart should the hives be?

A. Although it is perfectly fine to put the hives right together, I like to have mine pretty far apart. Here are some things to think about.

1. You want enough room to walk between the hives and be able to work around each hive. The biggest problem for me has been when I am harvesting honey in one hive and the adjacent hives’ bees catch wind of the honey smell. I now have increased the number of bees landing on the combs I am trying to work. This is one reason I like to do the the single comb harvest with my hives that are close together. I can go in and remove a comb before any of the "other" bees get what's going on.

2. If the hives are close together they get used to each others’ proximity and scent and let their guard down, which sometimes results in them robbing the other hive. Disease can more easily spread and infect hives in close proximity; this is much of the problem with big honey apiaries. I like to give the bees their own local territory. If you have the room I would put the hives several hundred feet away from each other.

3. I get different honey from these hives.

A scenario might be; my #1 hive is right next to an apple tree will be a dark "apple honey" and the #2 hive, in the side-yard is going after the melon patch and the plum bushes across the road.

One of my favorite bee keeping joys is seeking out mono-flora areas. I drive and look for sunflower fields, different flowers down by a lake or fields with wild flowers. I will then put a hive in this area for a couple of months just to see what the flavor and color of the honey is.