re:assistance with lugging hives around, Thornes do what is basically
a sack barrow for carrying hives. This can be used vertically or can
be laid horizontally on the ground and used as a "tug truck" as their
sales literature calls it. I fancy buying one, as I work on my own,
and the physical effort of just a few hives is  considerable.  I was
talking to a bee farmer (age 73) who manages 750 stocks with his son,
and his solution is to take the body off an ordinary wheelbarrow, and
replace it with a flat wooden platform. Hives are held on the
platform with a length of rope, and this seems satisfactory. best
wishes, Andrew Piercy.