Proximity to water is less important than sun exposure, in my opinion. If your creek ever floods, you don’t want your hives too close to it either! 
As long as water is within a few hundred yards, the bees should be happy.
I would choose morning to midday sun with afternoon shade if possible. That will get the bees working earlier, and help them to cool off the hive in the afternoon when it has been in the sun for the morning.
Thank you! The creek would not be a threat to flood but I can’t put it in the morning sun as that’s where the road is,and people walk by constantly with their pets…I can’t place where someone might get freaked out or is allergic. Obviously though, this may take more thought than previously thought. Nice to know the creek is close enough wherever I place the hive 
I have a hive very close to a road - well, as close as my City will allow. 
You may not want to go to these lengths, but if you choose calm bees (we all want those as hobbyists!) and you consider a “flyover barrier” about 6 feet high, the bees won’t bother passers-by. The barrier can be anything - a hedge, a fence enclosure etc. I used t-posts and vinyl-coated wire mesh (both from Home Depot) to create an enclosure, which I then lined with garage door insect screen (from Amazon). It took about 6 hours to build it, but the hives are close to a road and located in a Community Garden with 40 plots. Nobody has ever complained about being stung or asked us to remove the hives. Just a thought.
Here is a photo:
Thank you again for such a great response, and the pictures, love your set up. I wasn’t feeling well yesterday so I couldn’t respond. I’m having fun with this whole project so I know figuring out where to place my bee hive won’t be any less of an adventure! 
Michael, I was sorry that we moved away from Yorktown and I missed your presentation at Colonial Beekeepers. I did get to see your Flow video of the installation of a bee package, which only made me feel worse for having missed your talk.
I’m really glad to see that you participate here.
I know that you are in a much different climate, and different topography, but I would really appreciate your thoughts on my hive location situation: We have relocated to central Virginia, about 30 minutes south of Charlottesville, partly into the Blue Ridge at 700 feet. We do have some bears wandering around, thought not a constant thing. I thought I had the perfect place – previous owners had erected a 7+ foot deer fence around their vegetable garden. I was going to electrify the perimeter for bear. However, it is within 200 feet of a ridge with tall trees, and the enclosure did not get full sun until near 9am this morning, about 2 1/2 hours after local sunrise. My source for my Nucs who is about 30 minutes away says that shouldn’t be a problem, as long as the hives are in the sun the rest of the day (yes, they would be)(his main stated concern is SHB) But I am concerned that they won’t hear ‘reveille’ until some of the bee flower flows are passed ( I think I read in a thread about forage that some good bee sources are only available for a couple of hours in the morning), and in any event I would think they would be at a disadvantage losing that much time in the a.m.
Am I trying to make it too perfect?
If need be, I can create a new enclosure that gets the sun earlier.
Thanks for any advice.
Harris
Here is my list of issues for locating hives:
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfaqs.htm#locating
I would say 9am sunshine is fine. All day is optimal, but there is no perfect place.
Thanks, Michael. That is an impressive FAQ. I very much appreciate your advice from experience.
