Texas Man, 70, killed by bee swarm while mowing

[ponytug]

Very unfortunate story.

We have lots of the underground variety of yellow jacket, though I have seen a few nest in hollow trees.

A local park put me on to a different way to eradicate ground yellow jacket nests. A turkey baster filled with diatomaceous earth powder. Squirt, squirt, and you are done. I was pretty skeptical the first time that I tried it, but it seems to work. I wouldn't want to try it on a hanging nest.

All the best, Peter

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Sad news for sure.

I do appreciate the cabbed tractor when I find a hive. Doesn't happen very often, but watching those angry buggers flying around the cab glass is better than getting nailed by them.

Was helping a friend clear his pasture a while back. He has an old open station JD. He was using bucket grapple to clear brush and I was mowing. Anyway all the sudden he dives off the seat waving his arms like a lunatic and running for the gate. I just sat there trying to figure out what happened. He ended up being ok, but lots of welts for a while, especially neck and head. They always seem to go for the head and face. Rotten bastages.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

This might be the species we see. The do look like bee's. We is also the type that make paper nest under things that at times as large as a basket ball, but they are less aggressive. The ground veriosn will go after you it you disturb there nest or the hole that leads to it.

Yellow jackets are vicious, particularly in the fall when they are putting meat in the larder. They can sting multiple times, and hope you die so they can tear parts of you off to feed larvae over the winter. Fortunately, our black bears don't like them either, and will dig up the nests and eat them.

 

[two_bit_score]

Africanized Killer Bees attack mowers very year somewhere in Texas. It used to be big news but now seems like we have gotten used to dealing with them more. It’s only big news now if someone is severely injured or killed by bees.

A friends elderly Dad got attacked and had a hard time recovering from it. He lived but it was a slow recovery and really took a toll on him.

 

[ponytug]

Africanized Killer Bees attack mowers very year somewhere in Texas. It used to be big news but now seems like we have gotten used to dealing with them more. It’s only big news now if someone is severely injured or killed by bees.

A friends elderly Dad got attacked and had a hard time recovering from it. He lived but it was a slow recovery and really took a toll on him.

Yes, when they first started coming, it was big news. The African bees are much more like fall yellow jackets, and they keep coming and coming.

Then the US started putting European honey bees in Panama to hybridize with the African honeybees moving north, and it has apparently greatly lessened their ferocity, or at least that's what they say.

Personally, I love to watch honey bee swarms. Pure democracy in action as they vote on a new location. (Interesting read: Honeybee Democracy, if you like animals and natural history.)

All the best,

Peter

 

[Tinhack]

I was stung last week by a bee. It wasn't a honey bee and it wasn't a yellow jacket. The one that got me was dark but it was bee shaped. I heard it buzzing around my head while I was working on my truck. I thought it was a horse fly and made an attempt to swat it away. Big mistake. I felt it hitting my left arm and hand. (I was wearing long sleeves and mechanics gloves) After making its way down my arm, it went straight for my left eye. I had just a split second and turned my head and closed my eyes. It stung me about 1/8" from my left eye ball. And I was wearing my reading glasses.

I ran for the barn door and grabbed a can of wasp spray. I don't know it was the same one or a few more but one by one they tried to come into barn. I was spraying a cloud of the poison on several occasions. Every time I went near the door, one would come at me and I'd spray it. They were really fast moving and very aggressive. I stayed in the barn for about 15 minutes then went to house through the man door. It was a very painful sting. I can't imagine the pain if I had been attacked by many.

 

[ruffdog]

Folks, have a SAFE escape plan from your equipment just in case you are attacked. You must be able to exit without getting run over. I knew someone that was running a dozer and was attacked by "bees" and in the process of running, he was run over. He died and the bees were still attacking. Since this happened, I have plans for working on foot, on a mower, and tractors. The wife knows that when I yell "bees", she runs where I point.

 

[Jstpssng]

Years ago one of the Canadian timber cruisers I was working with got stung, which isn't unusual. He had never had a reaction before, but that time he did. He later told of passing out, and the last thing he thought of was holding his newborn baby in his arms. Fortunately he came out of it, but it was a pretty tramatic experience for him.
Stings don't normally bother me much; usually they itch for a few hours then go away. I have a worse reaction to blackfly bites, leaving welts which last for weeks.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I've posted this before, but it bears posting again. If you get stung by a bee or a wasp, if you will take a couple drops of juice from an onion and put it on the sting, it will almost instantly kill the pain. Yeah, I was skeptical too, until I tried it. I was amazed! It won't lessen the swelling or hasten the healing as far as I know, but it will kill the pain. No kidding!
I got stung in the palm of my hand with a bumble bee that I was brushing off my pants (I was mowing; thought it was a blossom from our Rose of Sharon) when it nailed me. My 90 year old Dad told me about the onion, and I thought it was an old wive's tale, but it was painful enough I was willing to try..and it really worked!

 

[MoKelly]

I've posted this before, but it bears posting again. If you get stung by a bee or a wasp, if you will take a couple drops of juice from an onion and put it on the sting, it will almost instantly kill the pain. Yeah, I was skeptical too, until I tried it. I was amazed! It won't lessen the swelling or hasten the healing as far as I know, but it will kill the pain. No kidding!
I got stung in the palm of my hand with a bumble bee that I was brushing off my pants (I was mowing; thought it was a blossom from our Rose of Sharon) when it nailed me. My 90 year old Dad told me about the onion, and I thought it was an old wive's tale, but it was painful enough I was willing to try..and it really worked!

Good information. Thanks.

MoKelly