Hi Jim - sure, I mow around my hives with a petrol mower without any problems at all. However, a strimmer (with it's high-pitched whirring sound) is a much different story - now that really gets 'em mad ...
But I was focussing - not so much on the report of the mowing activity - but on the comment that "My bees are super calm as of late." That suggests that they haven't always been this super-calm, and that the colony's behaviour has recently changed.
Now it could simply be that the queen has superceded, and the old cranky bees have eventually died-off, leaving much calmer bees in their place - BUT - it could also be the case that the colony is queenless.
I find that queenlessness can take two forms: one is that the bees become irritable and bad-tempered - but the other is that they can become demoralised and lethargic. This can often be confused with a placid well-behaved hive - when in fact what is happening is that the colony is dwindling and going downhill fast.
The only way to know for sure is to take a look inside. If the colony really is just placid and healthy, then such an inspection would be a breeze anyway - and wouldn't take so very long just to confirm that there are brood larvae present, some stores in place and a fair number of bees in the box. That's all I'd need to see to walk away happy.
'best,
LJ