LOCATION OF THE APIARY 23 



bee secret, but undoubtedly every flower in the region 

 yields them tribute. If bees be kept in town, they 

 must be placed on a roof or else a high fence must 

 intervene between the hives and the highway, so 

 that the plane of bee flight shall be set above the 

 heads of horses and drivers; for these brave little 

 honeymakers have never been taught to turn to the 

 right, and so they often dispute the way with teams 

 and usually come off victorious ; and this might make 

 the bee-keeper unpopular in his community. 



Another necessity in the apiary is that the grass in 

 front of the entrance to the hives be kept mown; 

 otherwise many a heavily laden bee will experience 

 loss or injury among interfering grass blades. It is 

 not practicable, even if one were heroic enough to 

 try it, to run a lawn mower nearer than four or five 

 inches from the hives, so many bee-keepers place 

 salt or coal ashes on the grass within this area. Mr. 

 Root goes so far as to advise the use of sheep as 

 automatic lawn mowers in the apiary, as nothing 

 else can cut grass so short as does the sheep. People 

 say "as silly as a sheep," but that is a silly saying, 

 for many people may learn something of value about 

 the management of bees from the sheep, which, when 

 attacked by them, thrusts its head philosophically 

 into a bush where the bees cannot reach the tender 

 parts, and trusts to its wool to protect it elsewhere. 

 As a matter of experience, sheep kept in apiaries 

 are rarely stung at all. 



In our own apiary, where it was not practical to 

 mow close to the hives, we followed two methods: 



