Swarmed by bees this morning!

[jrclark]

Love my land, but it's something new every weekend. While trying to clear the last portions of a downed hickory trunk, I had apparently irked the natives. Got off the tractor and WHAM! I ran about 50 yards in what must have been record time for any white guy in his mid 30s. Every sting was on the right side - arm, leg and one to my cheek bone just below the temple. I just realized how many nerve endings are in that vicinity. What's strange is that I had been cutting in that area earlier and had been keeping my saw on top of that same log in that same area all morning.

This happened to me before many years ago, but with ground hornets (white heads, believe they are called bald hornets as well). Took one to the side of the knee, swelled up behind my knee cap to the point where I couldn't bend my leg without a lot of effort and discomfort. It's never fun to experience that sensation, but it must look hilarious to the casual onlooker who happens to see someone running across the lawn waving their arms like a maniac, furiously smacking themselves.

Have plans to go back later this afternoon when they calm down and hit them with spray. Thankfully, I was able to sneak up behind the tractor, shut it down and grab the keys, otherwise it would still be idling back there.

 

[k0ua]

Love my land, but it's something new every weekend. While trying to clear the last portions of a downed hickory trunk, I had apparently irked the natives. Got off the tractor and WHAM! I ran about 50 yards in what must have been record time for any white guy in his mid 30s. Every sting was on the right side - arm, leg and one to my cheek bone just below the temple. I just realized how many nerve endings are in that vicinity. What's strange is that I had been cutting in that area earlier and had been keeping my saw on top of that same log in that same area all morning.

This happened to me before many years ago, but with ground hornets (white heads, believe they are called bald hornets as well). Took one to the side of the knee, swelled up behind my knee cap to the point where I couldn't bend my leg without a lot of effort and discomfort. It's never fun to experience that sensation, but it must look hilarious to the casual onlooker who happens to see someone running across the lawn waving their arms like a maniac, furiously smacking themselves.

Have plans to go back later this afternoon when they calm down and hit them with spray. Thankfully, I was able to sneak up behind the tractor, shut it down and grab the keys, otherwise it would still be idling back there.

Glad to see you are still alive. Kinda makes you wish you had a cab I bet.

 

[rekees4300]

Those are bad asses! Be careful. Spray isn't going to be effective if they are in their nest which is usually up in a tree. A 12 ga. shotgun may be a better option?

bald-faced hornet

 

[dave1949]

Yep, I done some of those comedy escape routines over the years. :laughing: Ripping my shirt off while running, etc.

Makes you wonder how something that small can feel like a hot nail being driven into your skin. Ground-nesting yellow jacket wasps are about the worst here. They get real mean, real quick when disturbed.

The DIL mowed over a nest a couple years back and had such a strong reaction, had to go to the ER, she keeps one of those self-injection pens around now. I seem to get a slightly stronger reaction to a sting over the years, but nothing serious. I don't know what determines why some folks become hyper-allergic and some don't.

 

[HEC]

I took a friend with me to rake blue berries one day and he raked right into a bees nest , I can still see him running across that blue berry field .
You are very fortunate that you are not allergic to bee stings. I have run over nests with a bush hog a few times and they go directly for the black loader bucket which I keep up high enough to see under it while mowing down the field . We have black bears in my area so I assume that's why they go for black , or it could be they go for the height and heat off the bucket due to the sun being on it , I don't know for sure , all I know is I have never been stung because of it . They just bounce off that bucket like crazy , I shut off the tractor and go home for about an hour and they are gone when I go back .
Glad you are okay ,

 

[jaotguy]

I can sympathize ... been there done that ...

now every time I find a hornets nest , I put on my skidoo suit , sand blasting hood , rubber boots , gloves and duct tape up any seams ...

then its off to the site with a garbage bag and a shovel ... off comes the nest , into the bag, tied up and then to the hole the BH dug earlier...

they can holler all they want but they can't get me ......

then hose down the nest site real well....

walk away and forget about it .....:laughing:

 

[Jstpssng]

Yep, I done some of those comedy escape routines over the years. :laughing: Ripping my shirt off while running, etc.

Makes you wonder how something that small can feel like a hot nail being driven into your skin. Ground-nesting yellow jacket wasps are about the worst here. They get real mean, real quick when disturbed.

The DIL mowed over a nest a couple years back and had such a strong reaction, had to go to the ER, she keeps one of those self-injection pens around now. I seem to get a slightly stronger reaction to a sting over the years, but nothing serious. I don't know what determines why some folks become hyper-allergic and some don't.

I beg to differ with you Dave... we DO have the white faced, AKA white rump, bald face, white ***ed, etc. They are the yellow jacket's evil brother and will actually follow you away from the nest, and sting you 100 yards away.


FYI; whether it's bees, fish, or peanuts; allergies can change over time, and somebody who never has had a problem can suddenly have a life threatening reaction. Also, multiple stings may bring on a reaction even if you normally aren't allergic. Part of a first aid kit should be a fresh supply of Benadryl.
Allergic Reaction to Bee Stings: How Not to Die
Like an epee pen this should be with you... NOT in your truck 1/2 mile away.

I could share horror stores of forester acquaintances who have been stung in the woods over the years... but i'll spare you the ordeal.

 

[CalG]

Love my land, but it's something new every weekend. While trying to clear the last portions of a downed hickory trunk, I had apparently irked the natives. Got off the tractor and WHAM! I ran about 50 yards in what must have been record time for any white guy in his mid 30s. Every sting was on the right side - arm, leg and one to my cheek bone just below the temple. I just realized how many nerve endings are in that vicinity. What's strange is that I had been cutting in that area earlier and had been keeping my saw on top of that same log in that same area all morning.

This happened to me before many years ago, but with ground hornets (white heads, believe they are called bald hornets as well). Took one to the side of the knee, swelled up behind my knee cap to the point where I couldn't bend my leg without a lot of effort and discomfort. It's never fun to experience that sensation, but it must look hilarious to the casual onlooker who happens to see someone running across the lawn waving their arms like a maniac, furiously smacking themselves.

Have plans to go back later this afternoon when they calm down and hit them with spray. Thankfully, I was able to sneak up behind the tractor, shut it down and grab the keys, otherwise it would still be idling back there.

I'm sure you will find that the evil doers WERE NOT BEES! more likely ground wasps or hornets . But Bees? Not a chance.

We should all try to stop blaming bees for all our "bee stings". The poor little rascals are taking a bad rap! And it's effecting their attitudes regarding beneficial pollenation.

Yellow jackets and white face hornets on the other hand don't seem to give a d***, and will even sting small kids without much provokation ;-)!

 

[Pilot]

Agree with CalG--Not all stinging insects are bees, but that's what most people call them. It would be helpful to be more specific; then we could pass on informed suggestions on how to kill the nest. Hornets build large nests that hang in trees, brush or under eaves--at least that's where I have seen them on my property. They are very aggressive if their nest is disturbed. Yellow jackets have ground nests. But there are apparently varieties of each, some worse than others and I got a really painful sting a couple years ago by a ground nester that didn't look quite like a YJ.

Skunks and raccoons are your friends. Next day after I got stung I went carefully to check the nest so I could kill it that night (pour about 8 ounces of gasoline on the nest after dark and promptly walk off; you don't have to ignite the gas) and it had been dug up overnight. For the next several days I would see another one dug up and I had been aware of only one of them. I think the skunk we had been seeing around the place got 6 or 7 nests over the next week or so--at least that's how many I saw.

 

[lockhaven]

I'm sure you will find that the evil doers WERE NOT BEES! more likely ground wasps or hornets . But Bees? Not a chance.

We should all try to stop blaming bees for all our "bee stings". The poor little rascals are taking a bad rap! And it's effecting their attitudes regarding beneficial pollenation.

Yellow jackets and white face hornets on the other hand don't seem to give a d***, and will even sting small kids without much provokation ;-)!

do not get upset many people call all creatures that fly and sting "bees", it is not meant to be degrading to bees it is just the way people use words. I knew some older people that called every refrigerator a Frigidaire. Some called every circular saw a Skill saw regardless of brand. Now back to the hornets be careful even at night they will attack, I know from first hand experience. They were in the hedge along the pasture and some of the horses came in with huge welts on them. I found the nest and planned a night assault. I missed the entrance hole with the spray giving them time to come out. Talk about a bad dream could not see where I was going yet they kept hitting me. They got me from my ankles to the top of my head.