Personally, mine are 8' long x 18" deep and about 10" off the ground. I like 3 hives per stand and think more than 3 (if the entrances are all facing the same direction) encourages drifting. I like stands with some "heft" to them and that can be anchored so they are less prone to blow over in gale force winds.

I am betting that for every 3 beeks you ask about this, you'll get about 5-6 different answers!!!

Build whatever you think will work for you and your site.

JMO

Rusty

edited because I don't measure too well

 

I like mine low for the wind, for reach and for getting the top supers on and off. Mine are all 3 1/2" tall and hold 14 eight frame hives.

 

My suggestion would be only on the length. I have 3-hive stands and I am giong to change them to 2-hive stands for two reasons. It is much easier to lift boxes by grabbing them front-and back and it is easier to inspect frames when you stand on the side of each hive. The ergonomics of lifting a frame that is parallel to you are my better than lifting one that is perpendicular. So you can work one hive from the left side and the other one from the right side of the hive stand. 2-hive stand take the same amount of time to make as 1-hive stand, but probably a half of time to make two 1-hive stands.
Well, maybe I will comment on the height. I would make it high enough to securely lean an extra frame or a box, in case you need to do that. I think 18 inches is probably the max.

 

My stands are 12 ft long, (a very few are 16 ft.), 15 inch wide, 15 inch off ground. If I were rebuilding I would go with 9 inch or 12 inch off the ground. They are made with 2 inch well casing pipe.

I place 3 hives on most of them. That allows an area, between the hives, to stack supers while you are working others or the brood chambers.

The photo shows 5, 8 frame nucs (Spring 2013) on them because there are no 2d boxes to work on these nucs.

cchoganjr

 

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My stands are 12 ft long, (a very few are 16 ft.), 15 inch wide, 15 inch off ground. If I were rebuilding I would go with 9 inch or 12 inch off the ground. They are made with 2 inch well casing pipe.

I place 3 hives on most of them. That allows an area, between the hives, to stack supers while you are working others or the brood chambers.

The photo shows 5, 8 frame nucs (Spring 2013) on them because there are no 2d boxes to work on these nucs.

cchoganjr

Hogans hive stand are similar to what I use. Handy, and easy to weed under. Strong stands, and easy to move the stand when or if you move.

 

Mr. Bush, are there any concerns having them that close to the ground, I use top entrance hives. Also, have you had a problem with that many hives so close together.

 

We live in a low-lying area with occasional tule fog. I keep them 16" off the ground for that reason, and also to lessen stress on my back, so I don't have to bend over as much during brood inspections.

 

>Mr. Bush, are there any concerns having them that close to the ground

I did it because of the wind and putting supers on with a ladder... It causes some issues with skunks.

> I use top entrance hives.

Which is what I did for the skunks...

>Also, have you had a problem with that many hives so close together.

No. They are all touching each other. I think they winter much better huddled together.

 

I, like other beekeepers, like to repurpose what we can. Here is my hive stands which consists of a 4 x 4 pallet with four 16" 4x4 legs. (All free).
The top of the pallet is approx. 16" from grade. I found that it is a comfortable hieght for me to work the hives and keeps the skunks at bay.

 

Mr Beeman... Free is my favorite price too. Take advantage of anything free.

cchoganjr

 

If you use bottom entrances and have skunks around, make the stand about 12" high or a bit higher. This will almost always keep the skunks away -- they don't like to reach and doing so will get them stung. Otherwise lower is fine so long as you have them high enough to keep ground fog out. The bees would prefer 20', up in a tree, but the stand really isn't for them, it's for hte beekeeper.

More than three hives side by side confuses the bees, I think, so you get drifting. Might try painting large symbols on the fronts if you have more than three, might help them identify "home".

Peter