got chased off a site today by bees

[imagineero]

It was my first time attempting to get rid of bees, a few days before a removal. I got some advice (use permethrin powder, cover every part of your body) and went to the site. It looked like a small nest. Hit my crotch on the first throw, and the throwball came down.... straight into the nest! They didn't like that.

So now I'm thinking... I better get all this gear on quick! Harness, welding gloves, jumper and zip up jacket, large fishing hat, and a big mosquito net over the top tucked into jumper... taped up all the seams everywhere. I'm safe!

Phew~ So back to tying my line onto the throwline. Man, it's really hard to tie knots while wearing welding gloves. Or do anything. The bees have followed the throwline down and are swarming all around me. There's a lot more than I though. A LOT! Like thousands... I'm trying to get my hitch tied. This is impossible. There is no way I can climb in welding gloves. Ouch! There's one inside my jumper! I'm getting stung. There's one in the fly net! I'm getting stung on the face! I unclip and go running out the gate, up the road, around the block, up the next road... bees chasing me all the while, screaming and trying to get all the tape, jumpers and gear off.

In the end I got stung maybe 4 or 5 times. Those guys are really aggressive! I could see from the street that they were swarming everywhere in the backyard. Decided to leave my gear and come back another day. I'm calling one of those serious bee guys in, with the bee vaccuum and the proper bee suit and all that crap. The client can pay the $200. I think I'll have nightmares tonight.

Shaun

 

[derwoodii]

aww man bad day I be trying other tatic who said put pyrthe dust on your bod give em back a spank pls

Last few years I've begun to learn how to keep bees and got a proper suit it makes handling easy n safe. I just last week collected a swam that held up a crew tryin to clear a job. Years ago this was done early hours with a towel on ma head while they were still cool n quiet now its just suit up wander in do as need n wipe off any that may be trying to avenge.

Hint cool is good but not after dark,,, done this it was mad they went nuts and chased me miles
Dress in light white color not dark they zero on this
Smoke if you can get it use it a bee smoker great a bunch of dry leafs in a tin bucket will do
once yer happy with suit protection the nerves calm down and you can work without worry
It still took me some time to be used to being covered with angry bees only now am I feelin fine with them

I use my suit more often spanking wasps its a hoot I dont care or worry and just bomb the nest from zero feet

 

[imagineero]

The dust was to go in the nest, which was inside the tree... though now I'm thinking about it maybe I should have just poured it over my head ;-)

Sounds like I was doing most things wrong! I had a dark jumper, black hat, black fly screen, dark blue chaps, black boots. You're not wrong on the nerves! I was really ####ting myself when they started attacking. Very agressive. They'd get the stinger stuck in the jumper, then they'd be stuck on me while others were attacking. That sound is enough to get you running.

Glad I didn't try the after dark thing which was also suggested. Can only imagine what would have happened if I was up the tree without any protection and they all came pouring out. I guess I was lucky that most of them were probably out during the day and off doing bee stuff.

Once was definitely enough for me.

Shaun

 

[derwoodii]

Once was definitely enough for me.

understood if yer ever need to do it again git a suit online fleabay less $100 landed me thinks

http://www.arboristsite.com/off-topic-forum/131678.htm#post2146794

 

[derwoodii]

The dust was to go in the nest, which was inside the tree... though now I'm thinking about it maybe I should have just poured it over my head ;-)

ahh makes sense now, hope ya did not spank him yet. Bee Pyth dust is way slow you need faster knock down if you gotta killem and rather not but if have too its getting hard to get hold off the fast nasty stuff. I not found anything better than 2 stroke poured in.

 

[imagineero]

followed by a match?

 

[imagineero]

no no... wait, then the bees would be on fire. I can see how this could easily get out of hand

[video=youtube;BOmwLlyBRC4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOmwLlyBRC4[/video]

 

[sgreanbeans]

I would have like to hear what the nieghbors down the street where thinking, "Honey there is a strange man running down the street ripping his clothes off screaming"............"yes deer"

 

[imagineero]

I don't know how I feel about you 'liking' me getting stung by bees

 

[sgreanbeans]

LOL, not the bees, the story! I hate those fackers, if u remember, I have a bad relationship with them, I don't mind them, but they freakin hate me! Esp those black and white ones, those things suck!

 

[beastmaster]

I hate to kill bees but what can you do some times? I have used a fire extinguisher full of soapy water or some other wetting agent and hit them early in the morning. I also some times use spray foam and seal em in. Or a combination of the two. I have a bee hat and vail I got on ebay and I made a smoker which I burn old cloth. smoke makes them real sleepy.
I'v been thinking about offering bee removal services my self. Honey from wild hives is worth a lot of money, and collecting a swarm on the move in someones yard isn't that hard.(at lest in the books Iv read.)
Once you piss them off it takes a while for them to calm down. Plus I sware, I think they can remember and recognize you.
I know a climber recently hospitalized from bee stings. Becareful.

 

[sun64]

Your lucky with the bees Shaun. I remember the news paper up here in Darwin in the 90's
A council worker had a sickie so this other guy helps out in a park cutting some trees.
Turns out there was a bees nest in there. Well they stung him, he got down from the cherry picker and jumped in a neighbouring houses pool. The guy ended up dying as he was allergic to them.
Was supposed to be his day off but the other guy was sick.
What I did years ago with paper bark wasps was swing the chainsaw around my head going up in the cherry picker.
I was fine but my mate got bitten. He carried on. I said harden up princess but that night he ended up in hospital. He was allergic to them also.
i felt like a p##ck later but I never thought they were that bad, at least not for me.
So the only thing I can add is ALWAYS err on the safe side. It is seriously one of the hidden dangers in tree trimming and luckily I only do it for myself .
Stay safe
Wayne

 

[shooterschafer]

I recently had a run in with a large bee hive, I called a bee rescue service and they sent a guy out right away. we tried to bring the log that had the hive in it carefully to the ground. Anyways my trimmer wore the bee keepers suit and still got it. Its like they tell all their buddys "hey there's a hole to get in over here GET EM ! " After all was said and done I got stung about 30 times ! I had to leave my equipment on the job sight till the next morning. You coudnt even walk down that block (or the next one) without getting swarmed. But without bees what do we have ? Gotta do your best to save the little buggers.

 

[imagineero]

I'm feeling luckier every day....
I've heard plenty of stories form other climbers over the last week, all of them very bad. One that topped the others was a guy in a cherry picker blocking down a huge barrell. Went right through a nest, and they swarmed the hell out of him. He got stung almost 400 times. He was going to jump out of the cherry picker at full height. Spent quite a bit of time in hospital. Ouch.

Shaun

 

[arborealbuffoon]

The super aggressive ones are apparently actually hornets and not bees. I was told this by a bee keeper after being chased over 100 yards by those bastidges. Also, it seems that the dry conditions are good for the little Nazis..there sure have been a lot of them this year around here.


I HATE those things, and I have NO sympathy for them whatsoever. Pour diesel down on em any chance I get. That gets em for sure. F##k them ALL!!!!!

 

[derwoodii]

I'm feeling luckier every day....
I've heard plenty of stories form other climbers over the last week, all of them very bad. One that topped the others was a guy in a cherry picker blocking down a huge barrell. Went right through a nest, and they swarmed the hell out of him. He got stung almost 400 times. He was going to jump out of the cherry picker at full height. Spent quite a bit of time in hospital. Ouch.

Shaun

ooow same here many a storys with nests uncovered in trunks. We had a bloke 6 months back almost died on us as he was anaphylactic to bees and did not have his eppii pen adrenaline with him one flew in truck stung and he was off to hospital What is a Life-Threatening Allergic Reaction? - EpiPen

 

[Sunrise Guy]

Best thing is to scope out the tree, with binocs, before you ascend. If you see little black dots, high up, coming and going, don't go up. Find a bee guy/gal in your area. That is the way to go. A bee expert will usually be more than happy to smoke the bees and transfer them from the tree. The ho pays the charge, and everyone's happy. With wasp and hornet nests, if they're not reachable with the usual sprays (and they are in 90% of the cases), I pass on the gig. Red hornets like to sting me, and they always tear a hole, the size of a third of a pencil eraser, out of my hide. Along with the pain, I'll pass.

 

[MPMoody]

I'm a groundie and not too long ago we were removing some big eucalyptus in Berkeley Ca. On the way up the climber yells down if i want some honey. He doesn't make a big deal out of it as it was only a couple bees. Apparently the hive was inside the tree about 5 inches and in the morning just a few were milling about. He tied the bull rope at the top and then we fell the tree. It cracked in half and while my boss yelled at me to untie the rope I had forgotten about the Honey comment. I go to untie the rope and they're apparently really pissed off about their hive crashing into the ground and breaking in half.

They started coming out of the tree and I was sitting there wearing a bright orange shirt and flourescent yellow safety vest(I'm convinced they think we're flowers). Had about 100 of em immediately swarming me. I couldn't run down hill because it was blocked off so i had to run up a steep slope then down the road. They chased me damn near a quarter mile while i got stuck probably 10 times. I was ripping off my PPE, swatting at them like a ninja, and just thinking about that bee's scene in Tommy Boy. Go Time! - Tommy Boy (6/10) Movie CLIP (1995) HD - YouTube

Then we had to chip the log with the rest of the hive still on it(gotta finish a job during crunch time right?). I put on a sweater with a hood, taped my gloves, put the hood on over my hard hat/face shield. Man those bee's were pissed. I chalked it up as a victory.