Is it possible to hide a component that is used as a base class for other
components?

I have two components that perform the same job. Their only difference is
that one works with objects, and the other works with data rows. So, I
derived both from a common base component and used a GoF Template Method
pattern to encapsulate the parts that differ in the derived components.

Here's my problem: I can't make the base component abstract, due to visual
inheritance limitations. (.NET needs to instantiate the base component to
instantiate the derived components.) But that means a developer using my
package could instantiate the base component, which I obviously don't want.

So, is there a simple way to hide the base component from a developer using
the controls, so that only the derived controls are exposed? Thanks.