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:
