> > cleats flush with the top of the hive, above the recessed finger-holds.

When I had several hundred hives in California in the 1980s, I had them all cleated. A lot of California beekeepers cleated them so they could lift the hives with the forks of a hive hoist. Some drop the cleats down to accommodate the covers, and some -- like myself, had flush hive tops to accommodate the cleats. 

The good thing about having a cleat all the way across the box at the top is that it reinforces the strip by the frame rest, which normally is only 3/8" thick. 

I have seen many types of hive covers in use, from the California style migratory lids, to the telescoping covers we use here in NYS, to just a piece of plywood 16" x 20". In my climate anything less than a metal topped telescoping cover won't last long. 

🐝

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