In sawing the ends and sides of the hive, whether by hand or with a buzz-saw, use should be made of a guide, so that _perfect uniformity_ will be secured. THE BOTTOM BOARD. For a bottom board or stand (Fig. 32), we should have a single one-inch board (Fig. 32, _b_) just as wide as the hive, and four inches longer, if the bees are to enter at the end of the hive, and as long, and four inches wider, if the bees are to enter at the side. This is nailed to two pieces of two by four, or two by two scantling (Fig. 32, _a, a_). Thus the hive rests two or four inches from the ground. These scantlings should extend at one end eight inches beyond the board, and these projections be beveled from the edge of the board, to the lower outer corner of the scantling. Upon these beveled edges nail a board (Fig. 32, _d_), which shall reach from the edge of the bottom board to the ground. We thus have the alighting-board, whose upper edge should be beveled, so as to fit closely to the bottom board. If the hives are to be carried into a cellar to winter, this alighting-board (Fig. 31, _d_) had better be separate, otherwise it is more convenient to have it attached. It may be made separate at first, or may be easily separated by sawing off the beveled portion of the scantlings. Should the apiarist desire his bees to enter at the side of the hive, the scantling (Fig. 32, _a, a_) should run the other way, and the alighting-board (Fig. 32, _d_) should be longer, and changed to the side. I have tried both, and see no difference, so the matter may be controlled by the taste of the apiarist. [Illustration: Fig. 32.] For an opening to the hive (Fig. 32, _c_), I would bevel the middle of the edge of the bottom board, next to the inclined board. At the edge, this bevel should be three-quarters of an inch deep and four inches wide. It may decrease in both width and depth as it runs back, till at a distance of four inches, it is one-half an inch wide and five thirty-seconds of an inch deep. This may terminate the opening, though the shoulder at the end may be beveled off, if desired. With this bottom board the bees are near the ground, and with the slanting board in front, even the most tired and heavily-laden will not fail to gain the hive, as they come in with their load of stores. In spring, too, many bees are saved, as they come in on windy days, by low hives and an alighting-board. _No hive should be more than four inches from the ground_, and no hive should be without the slanting alighting-board. With this opening, too, the entrance can be contracted in case of robbing, or entirely closed when desired, by simply moving the hive back.