Another lessons learned! (Ouch #2)

WannaBeHillBilly

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If there is a next time, go crawling through tall grass, weeds, leafy branches etc. You will "lose" more bees this way than any other method that I know of.
I slowly walked through a patch of Autumn Olive shrubs - you can't run through those without ripping your clothes and skin to shreds - but that did not really help.
Had a "good" idea last night: Next time i will run to my neighbors (those with the dog that scares the eggs back into my ducks), knock at their door and ask for help. :lol:
 

WannaBeHillBilly

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Do you have a pond? Winnie the Pooh jumped into the pond. But watch out for snapping turtles, water moccasins, and liver flukes.
Yes i have a pond! - Snappers, Water Moccasins, Liver flukes and brain eating Amoeba would be my least of worries. If i jump in there i will never make it out without help. The walls of the pond are so steep that even raccoons have drowned in there and even the ducks have a hard time to get out - at least they can use their wings for additional thrust. Plus the pond is just a hole in the loamy soil, so there is no real bottom to stand on and the mud will suck you down.
Still, the ducks love that pond…
 

CLSranch

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I know nothing about bee keeping, so forgive my question if it is a dumb one: for the ants, could you not use one of the granular insecticides that they carry back underground to kill the colony without impacting the bees?
That could hurt the bees on the ground on a later date.

Although I do use the little bait stations that bees can not get into and they still carry the bait into their colony.
 

soarwitheagles

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Great stories!

A couple of words of caution...

Stay hydrated when working in a bee suit on super hot days and also take some cool down breaks...

One day I was working for hours in 100+ degree temps with my wife and a friend. Next thing you know, I am laying on the ground, unable to get up...full blown heat exhaustion and I felt as if I was dying. It is a horrible feeling.

A special forces friend taught me how to overcome heat exhaustion...and it is super effective:

Freeze lots of 16 ounce water bottles.
During breaks, place a frozen water bottle under your armpit or under both armpits [subclavian artery].
Other locations to place the frozen water bottles would be alongside the side of your neck [carotid arteries], inside of thighs [femoral artery], etc.

This method cools your core temps.

I have often done this during 8 hour weapons training sessions in the hot desert when temps were 115F. The wonderful thing about this method is the heat didn't even affect me at all... Yet non-stop ambulances coming and going, taking others to the hospital all day long.

So moral of the story is...

Keep hydrated
Have cool down periods
Know how to cool your body's core temps
 

soarwitheagles

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¡Don't get me started on my smoker b¡tch! - I had it lit and it was smoking the sun away, but when i really needed it, i dropped it, the lid popped open and the embers rolled into the dry grass around the bee-hive. Had to perform a special dance ritual to extinguish the starting forest fire.
🤯

Those short and long worker bees are not that much different in length, so it is entirely possible that the smaller workers were just hatched. I saw those only in the brood boxes and they did not look crippled or so, just shorter.
I too have started a number of unintentional fires with my smoker.

Here are two safety practices that are essential for me now:

Keep a water pressurized hose [shut off valve on the end] at the bee yards that have lots of combustible items such as dry grass, wood chips, etc. At moments notice I can then easily extinguish any unintentional fire.

Always [I cannot overemphasize this point] place the smoker in a sealed steel bucket with a lid when done. I was severely burned once when I unwittingly tossed my lit smoker in the back of my truck and took off down the highway. The smoker tipped over, igniting pine shavings in the truck bed. Driving at 55mph caused a fire strom. The resulting fire came close to blowing up my truck [bedliner caught on fire, super heated the truck bed, which was directly above the truck gas tank].
 

Baymule

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Great stories!

A couple of words of caution...

Stay hydrated when working in a bee suit on super hot days and also take some cool down breaks...

One day I was working for hours in 100+ degree temps with my wife and a friend. Next thing you know, I am laying on the ground, unable to get up...full blown heat exhaustion and I felt as if I was dying. It is a horrible feeling.

A special forces friend taught me how to overcome heat exhaustion...and it is super effective:

Freeze lots of 16 ounce water bottles.
During breaks, place a frozen water bottle under your armpit or under both armpits [subclavian artery].
Other locations to place the frozen water bottles would be alongside the side of your neck [carotid arteries], inside of thighs [femoral artery], etc.

This method cools your core temps.

I have often done this during 8 hour weapons training sessions in the hot desert when temps were 115F. The wonderful thing about this method is the heat didn't even affect me at all... Yet non-stop ambulances coming and going, taking others to the hospital all day long.

So moral of the story is...

Keep hydrated
Have cool down periods
Know how to cool your body's core temps

Great information! In Texas summer heat, I’ll work outside from 6 AM to 11 AM to 1 PM, quitting time. High humidity here keeps me soaked with sweat, need lots of water and iced tea! Never heard of the frozen water bottle idea!
 
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