> TBHs are not necessarily trapezoidal, many are rectangular and some of them are built to Lang dimensions. All of my hives are built this way. I have poor upper body strength and know too many older beeks in constant back pain to want to go that route myself. The box is the width of a Lang, same depth as a deep Lang box, and 4' long, with a rabbet running the whole length. This yields enough space for 33 deep frames (the colony usually occupies a smaller space with a solid follower board), and uses 3 10-frame migratory tops (the bees propolize the gaps well enough that rain is no problem). This design has the weight benefits of a TBH but is more compatible with your existing equipment and allows you to use an extractor if you want. You can build from scratch or knock together from your existing deeps as described by previous poster. Elevate on cinder blocks, pallets, or landscape timbers to a comfortable height so you don't have to bend as much. As with TBH, they require more frequent care to produce large honey yields, and are very awkward to move when occupied, but are worth it to my mind if you can keep on keeping bees despite your back. Catherine Adamson *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm