Another reason for CLOSED CABS.

[Cat_Driver]

I was removing a lot of scrub brush from the property today with the grappler. Apparently I hit some sort of bees nest, I never did see it. The entire cab turned dark almost like a solar eclipse. They swarmed the entire cab. I sat there stunned for a second then thought I hope this cab doesn't have any openings for them to get it.

I hightailed it out of there lickety-split they chased me for almost 500 feet before they gave up.

I drove by later a couple of *** later with my truck and they were still riled up.

I debated for a long time getting a cab thinking this is a pretty expensive luxury, but today I realized it's not a luxury at all it's a lifesaver. I can guarantee you I'd be dead right now being stung by hundreds of those things. Moreover, if I was in an open cab they would have continued to sting me for a few hundred feet.

How'd you like to see the news report on that one. Man dead in the seat of this tractor stung several thousand times and he was swelled up twice his size.

 

[radios1]

they could be africanized killer bees!. by the way you described them.. if so, they need to be destroyed. and yeah, some people like to live on the wild side, and come what may, they like the open cab.. look here. Africanized bees extend their distribution in California

 

[oosik]

Thirty nine years and NEVER anything like Cat_Driver experienced. No question at all - if I had bees like that - I'd have a cab. I think it's because there are no ground dwelling species around these parts.

ONCE I unknowingly mixed it up with a small nest of Bald Faced Hornets. They chased me all the way back to the house. Some 150 feet. I've now learned to recognize those specific looking nests and avoid them at all costs.

Having the entire cab covered is bad enough. Worrying about some tiny opening would set your heart to racing.

Glad to hear you are OK, Cat_Driver. Have you done anything about the bees??

DEFINITELY a very good reason to have a cab.

 

[Cat_Driver]

That makes twice a close cab saved me. The other time I was clearing some mesquite trees with a closed cab skid steer.
I pushed forward with the grapple to make a grab and as I pushed forward the thick brack slipped off the grapple and snapped back like a mousetrap.

It hit that windshield so hard the sound alone scared the heck out of me. Had that windshield not been there - who knows.

radios1 - good point. I need to see if I can get a dead one to check it out. Quite frankly I'm scared to death to even go near that patch now. I've never seen bees so aggressive and chase something for so long, they were relentless.

Another point why I get cabs is I would always get dust pneumonia after working with an open can even though I had a mask. I'd work the day then spend the next week coughing my brains out.

Just some advice for the guys that are on the fence when it comes to cabs. I have to give kudos to the guys I see on youtube in an open can late at night plowing the snow of snow blowing the snow in freezing temps with a high windchill. I don't know how you guys do that.

 

[oosik]

The bees being that aggressive - I just wonder if you didn't run into a patch of Bald Faced Hornets or the like. I've never seen bees being that way. Hornets - yes. Very much so..........

How do I plow snow in the cold and in a driving snow storm with my open station Kubota? Eddie Bauer - head to toe.

 

[repete]

A few years back one of the guys in our valley was using his brush hog for mowing with an 8N and ran over a nest. He was allergic to bees and they attacked him.

When he tried to get off the tractor, he knocked it into gear and the tractor lunged forward and the brush hog took his foot off just above the ankle and the bees continued to sting. He took a helicopter ride to Harborview Hospital in Seattle that day. He now has a prosthetic leg from the knee down but manages to work as he previously had. Incidentally, That following year we had a bad flood and he watched as his home was ripped from the foundation and floated down the river. It was a year of tragedy for Dil.

 

[dougtrr2]

radios1 - good point. I need to see if I can get a dead one to check it out. Quite frankly I'm scared to death to even go near that patch now. I've never seen bees so aggressive and chase something for so long, they were relentless.

I would make some calls and see what it would cost to have someone exterminate them. Just point him to the area, stay safely back, and watch the show. NO sense in putting yourself through something like that. If they are that aggressive they are probably not your average honey bee.

Doug in SW IA

 

[ovrszd]

I agree Doug. In our country I'm guessing they are ground Hornets. I stirred a nest of them a couple years ago and they attacked my dog. Luckily there was a creek nearby and I used the tractor to push him off the bank into the water and they quit attacking him.

I went back a couple days later with a pump sprayer full of gasoline. Slowly and patiently walked into the area and waited. Finally spotted them coming and going from their nest and was able to kill them.

 

[buck12]

I agree Doug. In our country I'm guessing they are ground Hornets. I stirred a nest of them a couple years ago and they attacked my dog. Luckily there was a creek nearby and I used the tractor to push him off the bank into the water and they quit attacking him.

I went back a couple days later with a pump sprayer full of gasoline. Slowly and patiently walked into the area and waited. Finally spotted them coming and going from their nest and was able to kill them.

What my Dad always did was find the entrance to the nest then go back at night with gas. When I was a kid, we dug a nest up after Dad had used gas. It was huge.

 

[fried1765]

I was removing a lot of scrub brush from the property today with the grappler. Apparently I hit some sort of bees nest, I never did see it. The entire cab turned dark almost like a solar eclipse. They swarmed the entire cab. I sat there stunned for a second then thought I hope this cab doesn't have any openings for them to get it.

I hightailed it out of there lickety-split they chased me for almost 500 feet before they gave up.

I drove by later a couple of *** later with my truck and they were still riled up.

I debated for a long time getting a cab thinking this is a pretty expensive luxury, but today I realized it's not a luxury at all it's a lifesaver. I can guarantee you I'd be dead right now being stung by hundreds of those things. Moreover, if I was in an open cab they would have continued to sting me for a few hundred feet.

How'd you like to see the news report on that one. Man dead in the seat of this tractor stung several thousand times and he was swelled up twice his size.

Likely they were not honey bees, though it is possible they could have been the Africanized variety.