How do we spaces our bee hive from each other?
Hiya Nwodo, great question. Ive seen hives In cold climates touching side by side for combined warmth yet here in a warmer region I have them about 1 metre apart and have good results. I don’t think there a set distance.
Number of colonys in a given area is a different kettle of fish though.
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What do you mean by your last statement Skeggsie?
I don’t understand your question?
Availability of forage in the area may limit the hive density. This can change with the seasons which is why commercial beeks follow the flow.
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My property is only 50 feet wide, and my hive location meets the regulations with about 3 feet wiggle room on each side. I’m putting my hive inside a metal structure to control the flight path and to also protect it from palm fronds that sometimes fall in my yard from the neighbor’s trees during storms.
I was going to try to build something until I found this bower from AgriFrames in the UK which is exactly what I had in mind, only looks much better. The one I got is 6 feet wide. My plan is to drape a fire-retardant mosquito net over the entire structure and cut a hole for their flight path. The hole will be like a sky light about 18 inches square, which meets the requirements for a 6 ft flyover barrier. My mosquito net should arrive tomorrow, and I’m going to drape it and mark the spot, and then reinforce it with some kind of nylon ribbon – whatever I can find at Joann’s. (Good thing my mother taught me how to sew!)
Because my lot is so narrow, I’d like to keep open the possibility of adding a 2nd hive, but they would be very close together inside the bower. I could drop a net barrier between them and have separate skylight entrances, but I don’t know if that would allow enough room for access to both hives.
Here’s a picture of the basic frame.
I’m already well down this path, but I’d appreciate hearing your thoughts about this idea!
You don’t need to do that. I have had hives less than 6 inches apart, and many commercial beekeepers have them with the walls touching. It is more convenient for me to have more space around each hive for inspections, but the bees don’t care how far apart they are. 
Thank you! Then I’ll place the first hive to the far right instead of center.
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One other thing to consider. When inspecting, it is really helpful to be able to stand behind the hive. You get far less “attention” from guards and returning foragers if you do that. I don’t know if your plan will allow that, but if you can, I recommend it. 
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Yes, I was wondering about access to the back. This thing isn’t very deep, but I’ll make sure there’s room. I’m going to wrap the lower part with 1/2" chicken wire, and then add some kind of wire gate to the front. So that will make a little more room from front to back…this is a big experiment!
P.S. I had a hard time finding 1/2" chicken wire, but I have a big roll of it on my front porch!
It will be very interesting to see how your bees navigate this setup. In the Community Garden, ours found the insect screen quite confusing. There were often bees crawling on the screen. However, because the top was open to the sky, they worked it out over time. I can’t wait to see what happens with your colony(ies) 
Also, my visualization of this idea was to have morning glory growing over the bower, but the regulations don’t allow any vegetation nearby. So the lizards love it!
There’s only one way out!
Hmm, I will have to read again. Last time I looked, it was referring to flammable vegetation. I think any other type is fine.
OK, It now says any vegetation. If you want clarification, you might want to contact Jaime Garza. He is very reasonable, especially with people who are trying to comply
I would love to grow something over this bower! It would just disappear into the background.
Since we’re talking about this, here’s the cedar shed that I had built from a kit. At first it was going to be a gardening shed down at the bottom of my property, but now it’s a honey house! This is where I’m going to keep all my bee gear, which is right now cluttering up my living room!
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Hi Claire, a couple of things to think about.
As Dawn says you need room behind the hives to work and IMO anything less than a meter would be tight.
When inspecting you’ll need somewhere to put boxes and frames. My hives are waist height on a frame about 3 1/2 boxes wide. Having 2 hives on the frame allows me an area between the hives to put gear on while inspecting.
I also have a beach umbrella out by the pool and I’m always amazed how insects, bees included, get stuck in the concave area of the umbrella even though it’s totally open. I think it may have something o do with the light that penetrates the mesh on the brolly.
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Thanks so much for the tips. I’ll leave as much room in the back as possible. I have a small and very sturdy folding table that will be good to use during inspections.
Meanwhile, I’m hoping to hear back today about my permit. Mike Viglione in the Lemon Grove planning dept. has been helpful, and we’ve gone back and forth a few times to bring my sitemap up to speed. I pinged him again last night and I think he now has everything he needs. Just in time, because the nectar flow is on!
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I just got my Beekeeping permit! So now I have both the State of California ID and Lemon Grove zoning permit. 
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