Las, helped a beek a few yrs. ago with 2 Kenya style hives ( natural drawn comb) I think 30-33° tapering on a Kenya style, that would hold 18-20 frames, using a follower board to cut out empty space. Also used 4 boxes that used standard Lang. frames 2 with deeps, 2 with med. frames. Those hives did great in spring an summer. But with mild winters we have in n.c. our success rate wasn't good. Out of 6 , maybe 2 would make it. With your cold climate , I don't know, maybe someone else has more info. Imho if hive is strong enough with a good insulation on top cover to not let heat out and a very small entrance it can work. Remember this hives are from Kenya. Another thought is Styrofoam hives built that way. We noticed that hives like this build brood in frames close to entrance an stores in back close to follower board. Remember heat rises. We experimented with a hive that was 30 frames horizontal and in the middle had 2 med. supers on top those seemed to work better, with 2 entrances then shut down 1 entrance during winter, but that to was a 50/50. Hope that helps
