> In my climate anything less than a metal topped telescoping cover won't last long. 

I feel pretty much the same way. Even my nucs with flat covers are covered with sheet steel.

I run my cleats overhanging the hand holds. Allows you to slip your fingers up underneath the cleat and get a good grip. You can also make an angled cut on the underside of the cleat to facilitate this.

My most useful tip that has not yet been mentioned is to lean queen excluders over the hive entrances when I weed whack the apiary. It stops the vast majority of clippings from crashing into the entrance and aggravating the guard bees. I still wear a veil, tho...nothing's perfect!

S
Skillman, NJ

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