bee hives: sun or shade?

In thinking about placement for hives, should I think about how much sun the site gets? Does it matter? My intuition thinks winter sun/summer shade would be easiest for the bees...

Sun and shade are really important.

Skeeter has a picture of some hives he managed a long time ago.  And I tried to emulate it, but never found out the results.

So anyway ....  In the cooler months, the sun REALLY helps!  Those bees need to maintain a certain hive temp, and they either burn up their honey generating heat, or the have big stores of honey for you to eat. 

Another helper is to insulate the hives - especially in the cooler months.  And to provide some mid-day shade in the hot months.

Most people don't care that much and just put the hives in all day sun and feed the bees lots of sugar water.  I think that feeding them sugar water is not nearly as good as letting them eat their own honey.

Our hives are all in full sun. In our climate (Orcas Island) we don't get hot enough to be concerned about them overheating. Those with temperatures regularly in the 90s & 100s have more to be concerned about from the heat.  It is definitely more important to make sure they aren't cold/wet in the winter around these parts.

Dave