Tilting hives forward for winter drainage and levelling stands before the ground freezes — my September checklist

Every autumn I get asked about this at the association, so here's what I do with nine colonies in Perthshire before the ground turns to iron and the boxes get too heavy to shift. Stands first. Mine are breeze blocks on paving slabs, and the slabs move over a wet summer. I put a spirit level across each stand side to side and shim with slate so the comb hangs true — a hive leaning sideways is how you get comb built out of line on any foundationless or wonky frame. Then the forward tilt: a strip of roofing batten under the back edge of the stand, enough that the bubble drifts just off centre towards the raised back end. On solid floors that means any condensation that runs down the walls, or rain blown through the entrance, drains out the front instead of pooling at the back of the floor under the cluster. On mesh floors it matters less but I still do it, mostly so the roof sheds water forwards. Last, straps over every hive, a check that no stand leg has rotted, and that's the lot. What am I missing?