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THE CORNFIELD AND THE HIGH BOARD FENCE NEXT TO THE BF.E-YARD TO RAISE 

 THE FLIOHT OF BEES OVER THE HORSES' HEADS. 



DEES AND NEIGHBORS. 



How to Prevent them from Stinging Ani- 

 mals on tlie Farm. 



BY E. R. ROOT. 



Shortly after we located our north yard at 

 our basswood grove, our bees would every 

 now and then sting- horses in the adjoining 

 fields. On one occasion we had a hurry-up 

 call to send a man down, as our bees were 

 interfering with a mowing-machine cutting 

 red clover in the field adjoining. In one in- 

 stance the driver was stung; and in another, 

 man, horses, and mowing-machine cut across 

 the field at a gallop. It was almost a wonder 

 that there was not a bad mix-up. 



Trouble seemed to occur more often when 

 the bees were busy at work in the fields, 

 rather than when there was a dearth of hon- 

 ey. When the mowing-machine or cultiva- 

 tor would come very close to the yard, fly- 

 ing bees in great numbers, going to and 

 from their hives, would encounter the horses. 

 While the bees were probably not disposed 

 to be ugly, yet the sweaty horses with switch- 

 ing tails would sometimes invite an onslaught 

 from one or more bees. 



Our neighbor who owns the field ne.xt to 

 the yard is a very good friend of ours; and, 

 even if he had not been, we were under 

 obligations just the same to prevent the an- 

 noyance. Two or three years ago we told 

 him that when he had any cultivating or 

 mowing in the field next to the yard, to let 

 us know, and we would send down our man 

 and team. But he demurred, saying that 

 would be asking too much — that he would try 

 to get along the best he could with his own 

 team. 



As the yard is located on high ground with 

 a direct north exposure, it occurred to us 

 that we might kill two birds with one stone 

 — that is, erect a high board fence to cut off 

 fierce north winds during winter, and dur- 

 ing summer make the bees fly high enough 

 to pass over any stock that might be in the 

 field opposite. We accordingly built a struc- 



ture 8 feet high and about 200 feet long. As 

 this faces the incoming and outgoing electric 

 cars from Cleveland, we concluded it would 

 be a splendid place on which to advertise. 

 We accordingly put our sign-painter at work. 

 The result will be seen on the frontispiece 

 of the cover and on the little photo herewith. 



This big high board fence, as a windbreak 

 during wmter, accomplishes its purpose, and 

 no doubt it is worth all it cost. As a big sign 

 it has attracted the attention of the public 

 far and wide, for it is a decided novelty to 

 most people that queen bees can be and are 

 reared like chickens. Many are the visitors 

 who call to see "the wonderful establish- 

 ment." 



But as a means for preventing an attack 

 on horses working in adjoining fields this 

 big fence has been only partially successful. 

 During the past summer, while our bees 

 were working on honey-dew they were un- 

 usually cross, as we have explained in these 

 columns on page 420. 



This year our neighbor was growing corn 

 in the field next the fence. We learned that 

 the bees had attacked his horses on one oc- 

 casion while cultivating it, and stung his son 

 and horses so badly that they were almost 

 laid up. Hearing this we thought possibly 

 there might have been a little robbing; but 

 investigation showed that there had been 

 nothing of the kind. The trouble was that 

 the bees were interrupted in their flight; 

 and the horses, remembering their previous 

 experience, began shaking their heads and 

 switching their tails, with a result that can 

 be readily imagined. 



We telephoned to our neighbor that the 

 next time he came to town if he would go to 

 the harness-shop and get two large horse- 

 blankets we would pay the bill. Fortunate- 

 ly he was able to find two blankets that cov- 

 ered the flanks, back, and a portion of the 

 head and neck. These were of a light yel- 

 low, and quite porous, but not sufficiently so 

 to let bees through. It was our further plan 

 to put a large scjuare mosquito-netting around 

 the head of each horse as an additional pre- 

 caution. We supplied our neighbor with 



