For the back lovers - another version of a horizontal hive is the Jackson Horizontal Hive out of South Africa. You can see pictures of their hives on the web and they are very good about talking with you and modifying their hives for European or African bees. The hive body is very light and can be hung at any height making working on it very easy.It would take any type of frame although it is primarily meant for a top bar type. Traditional frames could be easily modifed to have a solid top and traditional sides and bottom so that would not be a problem.
Check out Jackson Horizontal Hive and rupertshoney.co.za on the web for more information. They have solved many of the problems and run more than 400 Langstroth hives still in conjunction with several hundred of their own version. They are getting 30% more production from the new hives so are switching over steadily.
Good luck
Bryan
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