Ran into a problem with my first Long Lang.
It's long sides of 3/4" Plytanium bow out at the top in the middle. So, I spanned the distance with a middle brace, drawing the sides in to parallel, which is setting now. I'm guessing this is SOP with horizontal hives.
It's insulated with polyisocyanurate: 1/2" on the bottom, 3/4" on the vertical walls, and 1.5" in the cover.
Overall height is 40", nice working height that I'll enjoy.
It will hold 20 frames in keeping with my small hive experimentation. But I can see why one would build them much larger, given the trouble. 30 or more frames makes a lot of sense for those that like big hives. The additional cost in materials would not be that much more.
Going to try something and will report back about it. Making a 2" round entrance in the bottom toward the front, in the first few inches under the body for shelter. Will put 1/2" hardware cloth over it. The hive bottom is 26" off the ground. Don't know what else could get in there except the bees. Can SHBs fly straight up or walk upside down?