Recently finished a couple gabled long langs. They start as 2x12s and we route out the bottom for the 3/4″ plywood. That thick of a plywood is not really necessary in Texas but I prefer it for additional strength. Since wood prices are becoming reasonable again we are moving back to it.
The customer wanted sugar shims and inner covers rather than cover boards. We cut the shims down to about 2 3/4″ to give us room inside the lid for the 3/4″ thick inner covers. This still gives plenty of room for a sugar brick which is typically less than 2″ thick. The soft sugar bricks sit on top of the frames and give the bees an additional food source during the winter.
After staring at the inner covers for a few days I decided that newer ones were needed because I was just not happy with them. The new ones use 1/4″ plywood and framed in pine to give them more strength and bee space. The other reason is there needs to be a flat side to the inner cover so it meets up with the divider board. Otherwise, the bees would simply walk over the divider.
This hive also has treated legs. Treated lumber is always difficult to deal with because it is typically wet when it is purchased so I stacked it and put a fan on it about a week to try to speed up the process. It seemed to help so maybe it wont decide to dogleg!
