We keep our beehives on our kitchen roof. The roof is flat and means that we can use that area more productively. I use ladders to get up to them. Having them above head height means that although there are over 150,000 bees above us we only ever really notice 5 or so in the garden. We don't even hear them. When they fly out the hive they soar up another 8 foot and follow their flight paths directly to their favored pollen sources.
Currently they are kept in 'Smith' hives, but we plan to transfer them in 2012 to Top bar hives. I have made 5 hives in preparation.
More photos and video to follow.