12 A YEAR'S WORK IN AN OUT- APIARY 



begin at the east end and mow a swath toward the west, allowing the 

 "pointing in" to come as near each hive as is possible without hitting 

 any of them. By thus mowing, the swath of grass is carried out and 

 away from the entrances to the hives so the bees need not be disturbed 

 when I come to the raking-up part, later on. Arriving at the west side 

 of the yard, I quickly go back to the east or "beginning" end, and mow 

 through again. Immediately in front of row No. 2, but instead of coming 

 back "empty," as before, I mow back at the rear of the hives on row No. 

 1, cutting as close to the backs of the hive as is possible without hitting 

 them enough to disturb the bees materially. In this way the double 

 swath of grass is left in the center, between the first and second rows 

 of hives. 



I now begin in front of row No. 3, coming back at the rear of No. 2. 

 Next, I go to the west end of No. 3 and mow at its rear, turning the 

 swath away from the rear of the hives against the fence at the rear of 

 the apiary, the same as I turned the first swath away from the entrances 

 or fronts of the hives, against the fence in front of the apiary. I now 



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DOOLITTLE'S METHOD OP MOWING THE GEASS IN A BEB-TAED. 



go to row No. 1 and cut the grass between hive No. 1 and hive No. 2, and 

 so on till the grass is cut between all the hives in each row. 



After years of practice and experimenting, this is the best and 

 quickest way to cut the grass in any bee-yard laid out in rows, that I 

 know of; and, after a little practice, very little grass will be left about 

 any hive to cut with a knife, shears, or sickle. Upon reading the above 

 when published as a serial in Gleanings, Mr. W. O. Perkins, Bristol, 

 Conn., writes: "I should like Mr. Doolittle's reason for going back 



