Dear Robert,
 
surely the bees will work independently of the way you place them. But
there is some general advice for you according to what kind of
disadvantages you prefer. ;)
 
The hives can be placed in line directly beside each other. This means that
foraging bees will loose their way and will preferably enter the hives at
both sides of the line. These hives always will be stronger and have more
honey. If you don't mind this you can place them in line, because it is a
very comfortable working, if you have the hive close to each other in the
same direction. Surely there will be less diffusion of the bees when the
lines are shorter, the directions of flighing are different, the distances
of the hive are greater or if there are any landmarks like trees, bushes
beside the bees.
 
Independent to this you should look for a warm place sheltered from the
wind nearby to a water source.
 
I personally don't like this way of placing the bee hives (in line),
because I want to know the best hives in order to find the best queen for
breeding. I prefer placing the bees in blocks of 4 hives flying to all four
corners of the earth. So the bees rarely will loose their way and it is
relativly easy to work at them. According to my experiences the amount of
collected honey is independent of the flight direction.
 
Sincerely
 
Reimund
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Beekeeper in Germany (Bavaria)
Queen Rearing of Carniolan Bees
Insemination Station
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