TM,
I would put them closest enough to see them from a house window. My hives are about 30 feet from my master bathroom window. That way i can watch what they are doing. I keep a flashlight in there so that I can see what they are doing at night in different temperatures. I also have a chair facing my hives so that I can relax and watch them up close. I have 2 granddaughters that spend a lot of time in the backyard, mostly in bare feet. The youngest tells me, when I tell to put her shoes on, I won't get stung papa. In the last 4 years, she never has. Neither has her older sister. And they swim in the pool that in next to the hives.
Jim