Plot Mowing & Bees

SD51555

5 year old buck +
This saturday is throw and mow weekend at my camp. One of my plots is heavy hairy vetch. That hairy vetch is loaded with bumble bees. I got to doing a little googling about bumble bees to try to understand if there's a way I can mow without doing too much damage to their population. What I really need to do is get some vetch going outside my food plots, and then I won't feel so bad about mowing all this stuff off. They do seem to at least work high on the plants, so maybe I won't get too many in the mower.

Any other ideas?
 
...butterflies and thistle...but it's gotta go!
 
I imagine if two or three of those jokers pop you that you may not care. Been a long time since I got hit by a bumble bee but I do not recall it as being a pleasant experience.
 
I would think early morning when they may still be dormant and not out and about.
 
I leave a strip unmowed so they've still got some flowers after I'm done, then come back and get it after other things are flowering.
 
The bees here have shifted bigly to the fleabane and goldenrod. I was afraid to walk through it at first. I've got big patches of both in my untouched areas, and they are humming.
 
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