Funny you should ask. It is customary to position hives so that they face south, east, or southeast.
However, where I live the prevailing winds come out of the south, so I turned the hives to face east, the morning sun, and then noticed that the bees flight path was such that it was from the south and the bees had to make a 90 degree turn to enter the hive, I lost 2 hives to absconding. I then faced the bee hives facing south, into the wind, and let the bees fly straight into the hives. I haven't had one abscond since.
So my answer to you is place it whichever way the bees like it best for your location, even if it's north. Watch the bee's flight path and point the entrance towards the direction they predominately return to the apiary from.