Bee Careful

[yoderjac]

I finally gave up on my Kioti AC. I've decided the design is so bad, I'm just not putting any more money into it. I just had them pull the belt last time I had it in. I've been operating it with the lid open, doors open, and rear window open, and using a fan. It is hot, but survivable.

I pretty much finished up the fall plant today. I decided to do some prep for a micro burn (see MSU deer lab podcast for details). So, I took the kioti into a riparian buffer where I have a stand. I used a chainsaw to fell dead and understory trees and the loader to push them out of future burn area to reduce the fuel load so I can safely burn it myself. I also touched up a walking trail through the buffer while I was there.

Well, I remember why I got the cab! I evidently found a ground bee nest. They look like small yellow jackets. Whatever they are, they sting like the dickens! With the cap so opened up, once they got in, I was at their mercy. I ended up abandoning the tractor until they left the cab and then sneaking back in and getting the heck out of there. I must have been stung a dozen times.

By the time I got back to the barn, my breathing was a bit labored. I took an antihistamine and used a rescue inhaler a couple times. That seemed to be enough to keep things from getting out of hand. I'm home now licking my wounds.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Peeps]

Those ain’t bees. Those are assholes. All wasps and hornets are assholes.

 

[SD51555]

I cut into my clover plot edge with an excavator last month to try to expand my plot. First scoop in two different places yielded ground hives. I escaped without getting stung, but that project was halted and I'm on to plan B. I had a bumper crop of flowers in my clover, all year. I can't remember them all, but I bet I had over a dozen that I could identify:

White clover, red clover, crimson, berseem, fleabane, daisey, flax, buttercup, cosmos, chicory, radish, and dandelion. There are others, but I can't think of them right now. The bee population and diversity in there something I'd never seen before.

 

[weekender21]

I almost trimmed a paper hornets nest in half back in June with my Stihl FS 131. Close call. I also had to evict 25-30 wasps from a tree tube a few weeks ago. Somehow I managed to get it done but as soon as I had the replacement window screen on the tree one of the angry tenants returned. It randomly stung the screen instead of me.

 

[Peplin Creek]

Jack, glad things didn’t get any worse. Take no prisoners when attempt your counter strike.

 

[Bill]

Yikes!

Did you leave the tractor running?
I abandoned my tractor once and never thought to shut it off until I was out of stings way...

 

[Baker]

Serious stuff there Jack. One of the uber wealthy owners of the famous Harrison's Piloncilla Ranch in South Texas was mowing on an open cab tractor when bees swarmed him . He died from a heart attack from the attack.

 

[Big Snow Man]

The guy I bought my land from died the following fall when he ran over a hive in the ground with the belly mower.

 

[Scott S]

Don't you die on me, Jack. I'm at least 5 years away from being competent/experienced enough to do this without your input. I'll buy the syringe and the 1:1000 epinepherine to keep in the Kioti if I have to.

Just kidding. Glad you made it back to the barn in time to get to the pharmaceuticals before things got out of hand.

 

[yoderjac]

Yikes!

Did you leave the tractor running?
I abandoned my tractor once and never thought to shut it off until I was out of stings way...

Yep, running and in gear. Fortunately I was using the loader and the foot accelerator. I didn't even think. The idle was low and the loader was up against a small tree. The tractor wanted to move but couldn't. Fortunately it was flat ground. I just ran far enough to get them off of me. They were probably actually some kind of ground wasp but looked like small yellow jackets. Once I stopped the active stinging, I looked back and could see the cloud near the FEL bucket. I cautiously worked my way around keeping my distance. I had left the door open when I exited so the wasps inside had followed me out. The coast looked clear, so I cautiously got back in put it in gear and took off. As soon as I did the cloud of wasps dispersed a bit trying to sting whatever they could but none got back in the cab with me.

I didn't sleep much last night and am still quite uncomfortable tonight. It is hard to sleep because of the itching.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[yoderjac]

Don't you die on me, Jack. I'm at least 5 years away from being competent/experienced enough to do this without your input. I'll buy the syringe and the 1:1000 epinepherine to keep in the Kioti if I have to.

Just kidding. Glad you made it back to the barn in time to get to the pharmaceuticals before things got out of hand.

I have not had a systemic reaction to stings before, but you never know when you'll have the first one, and I got a lot of stings. Carrying an EpiPen would not be a bad idea.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[ghilliehunter]

I finally gave up on my Kioti AC. I've decided the design is so bad, I'm just not putting any more money into it. I just had them pull the belt last time I had it in. I've been operating it with the lid open, doors open, and rear window open, and using a fan. It is hot, but survivable.

I pretty much finished up the fall plant today. I decided to do some prep for a micro burn (see MSU deer lab podcast for details). So, I took the kioti into a riparian buffer where I have a stand. I used a chainsaw to fell dead and understory trees and the loader to push them out of future burn area to reduce the fuel load so I can safely burn it myself. I also touched up a walking trail through the buffer while I was there.

Well, I remember why I got the cab! I evidently found a ground bee nest. They look like small yellow jackets. Whatever they are, they sting like the dickens! With the cap so opened up, once they got in, I was at their mercy. I ended up abandoning the tractor until they left the cab and then sneaking back in and getting the heck out of there. I must have been stung a dozen times.

By the time I got back to the barn, my breathing was a bit labored. I took an antihistamine and used a rescue inhaler a couple times. That seemed to be enough to keep things from getting out of hand. I'm home now licking my wounds.

Thanks,

Jack

Jack,
Those were ground hornets. My youngest son and I were clearing a trail 2 weeks ago and as I was running the saw, I stepped into their nest. I got stung 27 times and my son was stung over 50 times. Mean little creatures.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

Yup I ran into a nest of them in a knocked over tree rootball. We were doing some work on my garage, and the dogs happen to find the nest and they got stung several times. I went and grabbed wasp spray but it did little to slow them down. I hooked a ATV winch to the rootball and pulled it in to an opening and dumped gas on it and lit it, that took care of the main nest, but lots of individuals looking for someone. Luckily none of us people got stung, but we had 3 dogs take several hits.

 

[yoderjac]

Jack,
Those were ground hornets. My youngest son and I were clearing a trail 2 weeks ago and as I was running the saw, I stepped into their nest. I got stung 27 times and my son was stung over 50 times. Mean little creatures.View attachment 26230

I don't think mine looked exactly like that but they were very similar. Whatever they were....I don't like them!