How Close Together Can Beehives Be Placed?

The question “How close together can beehives be placed?” is one of the most common questions in beekeeping. Beginner beekeepers often want to know more about the rule that answers this question. However, the trick is that there is no rule.

You can put your beehives as close as you want. As we know, bees are extremely smart so they can easily find their way home. You can put the beehives even attached to one another. As we can see in the pictures below, this is often  the case. However, it is not a rule and this is not the only way in which beekeepers can place their beehives. On one hand, some beekeepers say that bees are usually going to the beehives at the end when beehives are placed in such a manner. According to them, this results in having more bees in the hives at the end as compared to the beehives placed in the middle.

On the other hand, other beekeepers are opposing this statement. They say that something like this has never happened to them. According to them, there is no harm in placing the bees close to each other. In fact, they state that they have never experienced any problems with this kind of solution.

Moreover, some beekeepers even place their beehives on a portable platform so they can move them from one field to another. On these platforms, beehives are attached to one another, and this is not a problem as well.

Nevertheless, as in most cases in beekeeping, is best to learn from our own experience. Even more, the pictures below show that you can feel free to place your beehives however you want. Finally, we can definitely conclude that there is no particular right or wrong answer to the question: “How close together can beehives be placed?”.