# How much space in between hives



## Freon11

I am a 2nd year beekeeper and am spilting my two deep to three hives how much space should I provide between hives?


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## mike haney

enough so you can put the cover between them to stack boxes on. makes it handy. otherwise, they can be touching. many commercials put 4 touching on 1 pallet and leave them that way. good luck, mike


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## Freon11

Thank You mike


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## Naturegoods

I’ve always kept my hives two to a pallet about 6 inches apart facing south. Pallets about 20-24 inches apart to be easy to stand between them and work the hives from the sides, setting removed frames on the back part of the pallet leaning against super. But then there is a pallet factory 5 miles away with a lot of scrap brand new pallets!


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## AmericasBeekeeper

If you want to make just one hive stand put them close together. If you want to reduce drifting and the associated disease transfer, put them as far apart as you can work them.


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## Mike Snodgrass

So, ill get an increased possibility of desease and loss of bees from one to hive to the next by being close together AB???? How come so opposite in answers here with a simple question?


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## peacekeeperapiaries

Mike Snodgrass said:


> How come so opposite in answers here with a simple question?


Welcome to BEESOURCE . With 3 or 4 hives put some space between them if you want, spread them around the yard, or build an 8-10 foot long stand and set them on that evenly spaced apart. Drifting and disease could be an issue, or not, but is a valid point and to some a valid concern. Plenty of beeks place 3-4 hives on hivestands in their residential yards close together, and commercials put 4-6 on a pallet almost right up against eachother. I vote for spread em out a little if you have the room to do so, although I'm one of those guys with 4 hives to a 48x48 pallet. Good luck


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## waynesgarden

Mike Snodgrass said:


> How come so opposite in answers here with a simple question?


Beekeeping is an art, not a science. You'll find contradictory answers to nearly every question. Don't worry, you'll get used to it

Wayne


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## AmericasBeekeeper

Bees in close proximity will drift to adjacent hives. They are carrying a full load and just want to land. If the workers have any parasites (Varroa) or diseases now all the hives have it. When I was a commercial beekeeper, I put them in rows 12 inches apart (room for the hive tool) .


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## Mike Snodgrass

I can understand those answers better. I have a space enough to go 4 feet apart for now...Thanks


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## Naturegoods

Also depends on if you have to keep a bear fence around them like I do, you can't be spreading them all over the yard. Also makes an issue of keeping the grass down with in the electric fence, how much to you want to cut with a weed eater?


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## Mike Snodgrass

My hives are going to be set up in a garden area surrounded by a 4 foot chicken wire fence that the goats have tried and cant get thru...might make a difference?


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## Naturegoods

suprising how many folks here have goats and bees - land of milk and honey!
Yeah I have Alpine milking goats


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## honeydreams

well Mike you ask two beekeepers and you will get four answeres:lpf: all about 99% correct. it up to you I have room to space mine out so I do. I have friends that keep theirs jamed against themselvs. it up to you.


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## Oberlinmom

I guess the next question is how far will bees drift? My understanding is the "guard" bees check out the new ones landing and if a bee arrives with a good load they let that bee no matter if they are from another hive or not. So if we really want to avoid drifting how far would a hive have to be? Or is it impossible to tell?


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## Naturegoods

Oberlinmom said:


> check out the new ones landing and if a bee arrives with a good load they let


Reminds me of a club door bouncer - rich or good looking or related get in? 
Look folks we're making way too much a deal about this. There is no 'right' answer and so what if there is drifting? It's not like one queen is going to attact all the good workers, drifting may occur but it all adds up the same!
Now the drones may all drift to a particular hive .....but that is a whole seperate item. :lpf:


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## Oberlinmom

I don't know but I've got a darn good looking carniolan queen that seems to be drawing in a whole lot of extra bees from the area. Her bouncers are getting the pick of the litter:lpf::lpf:


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## Michael Bush

There is no space between most of my hives. They are touching.


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## 2ndCharter

Naturegoods said:


> Also depends on if you have to keep a bear fence around them like I do, you can't be spreading them all over the yard. Also makes an issue of keeping the grass down with in the electric fence, how much to you want to cut with a weed eater?


For a fence that doesn't move often, you can take cedar, redwood or cyprus 1x6 or 1x8 planks and lay directly under the electric fence. Makes trimming a breeze and keeps the fence from shorting out in the tall grass if you can't get to that yard often.


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## NasalSponge

When it comes to beekeeping, I would not call the different answers to a simple question contradictions, I would call them different management techniques. This is one of the most subjective endeavors one can undertake. None of the answers given where wrong, just different opinions based on ones personal preference and experience. My hive sit a little more than a foot apart.


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## Deeptime

I'm 2nd year, had 2 hives, lost both to ice storm freezing entrance shut, starting 5 hives this month. I took standard pallets and ripped lengthwise so I have a bench about 22" wide, setting on cement blocks. I put 1 hive per pallet and have pallets in arow, about 16" apart, so hives are about 40" part. Last year I had my 2 hives 60' apart and while nice for cutting robbing and drifting, it was a bugger if you were swapping drawn foundation, etc.
This year it looks like each hive is sitting on its own "park bench". The space between hives is large enough to set boxes, covers and high enough off the ground to save my back, but close enough to wook two hive if swapping frames, etc. I'll update later as this is all one big experiement.:gh:


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## Alaska Ranger

So one colony's pheromones don't confuse a touching-adjacent colony? The two hives this newbee is building (it's still early....we remain in the throes of winter this high in the Alaskan Range) I am setting up in a temp-controlled room, and am torn between keeping them apart for "privacy" and health reasons versus together for the benefits of critical heat mass.


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## ccar2000

I have read that something to consider is the physical differences between the hives and their features. If all hives are the same solid color and the same height with the same patterns or other features the bees will be more likely to "drift" from one hive to the other. I have two hives three feet apart I painted them differently from each other.


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## kamildursun

Mike Snodgrass said:


> How come so opposite in answers here with a simple question?


If 10 beekeepers are discussing, there will at least be 12 different arguments on the same subject.


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## Roscommon Acres

According to the presenter at the bee class I just went to, bees are survivors. They normally work it out despite what we do, and we think it is because of what we do.

I'm hoping mine survive my mistakes, and I'm wise enough to not cling to those mistakes as critical management techniques in future.


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## bigeddie

ccar2000 said:


> I have read that something to consider is the physical differences between the hives and their features. If all hives are the same solid color and the same height with the same patterns or other features the bees will be more likely to "drift" from one hive to the other. I have two hives three feet apart I painted them differently from each other.



If you have one hive and a bee leaves the hive, can fly 2 miles then come back and find a hole the size of a nickel where it started from it shows me they have their own G.P.S. onboard. 

My hives are in two rows about 1 foot apart in a small area. I don't like building any more bear fence than I have to. 20 colonies do just fine. I try to keep things as simple as I can and let the bees take care of the small stuff like drifting, its not been a problem for me. I don't worry about the hives being painted the same color or distance apart. If I didn't have so many bear around I would spread the rows out wider and maybe spread the hives another foot apart, just because I think I would like to, the bees don't really give a rip.


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## Adamd

NasalSponge said:


> When it comes to beekeeping, I would not call the different answers to a simple question contradictions, I would call them different management techniques. This is one of the most subjective endeavors one can undertake. None of the answers given where wrong, just different opinions based on ones personal preference and experience. My hive sit a little more than a foot apart.



However you should have a bicycle at least 8 feet from a hive. It's just the law! 


If you want to do an artificial swarm, then you do need a few feet.


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