Africanized bees and tractor operator

[J_J]

Africanized bee swarm kills Texas man | News - Home

 

[Cat_Driver]

Happened to me, but I was in a closed cab Wheel Loader. I hit a hive somehow in the ground/scrub brush. The came at me in full force, looked like a solar eclipse inside the cab. The cab went dark and it was high noon. Wife was walking towards me and saw what was happening and ran inside.
Happened to me once on a smaller scale without a cab, lucky for me the heat coming off the engine was so hot, they approached me but then backed off when they felt the heat. After 100 yards I out ran them. That was the last day I drove a tractor without a cab, never again.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I know timing is never right but very early/late in the day gives one a little edge. We just are not really programmed to expect that form of danger.

It had to be hard on the family to see it and not be able to help stop it. Sounds like it was close for the daughter as well.

Thanks for posting since I have to get back to doing some clean up work that I left off last summer due to the hot dry weather.

 

[ETpilot]

Over the years I have been reading about the migration of these bees. Now they are in my back yard. Moody, Texas is 4-5 hours west of me. Not good. I read the article a few days ago on AOL. I did a search for any protective measures, not much there. Mostly cover head and face, run as fast as you can into the wind. Going into water is no good as they wait for you to come up for air. Best defense seem to be find them before they find you. I've seen some large hives down in Honduras. Not sure what they were as I did not get too close.

 

[7879fordman]

These bees are everywhere most large bee keepers have them . My honey guy said half his were . Says there nothing you can really do about them . But he says there just a little meaner is all . But he has them in hives and isn't driving a tractor over there hives .

Sent from my iPhone 5 using TractorByNet

 

[LindenBruce]

There was a report of a hive two counties south of me. Less than two hours drive. It's only a matter of time. B.

 

[stuckmotor]

Would a spray can of wasp and bee killer drive them away?

 

[pjbci]

I doubt it would help. I tried keeping a can on one of my dozers last summer. It didnt seem to phase the yellow jackets at all, they tore us up all summer. My open station dozer will be replaced with a cab machine when those bees get to south Ms.

 

[stuckmotor]

I don't really want an enclosed cab, they look hot, without air conditioning. I wonder how window screen inside of expanded metal would work?

 

[pjbci]

I think a window screen would do ok. But my main reason for buying a machine without cab was for visibility. With window screens you will have the same problem and also have to have doors to get in and out. The only advantage i see to window screen is that your A/C will never cause you to lose a day or two of downtime each time something goes wrong.

 

[stuckmotor]

I hope you're right. When the killer bees get to S.C. , that's my plan. I know more about fixing window screens than air conditioners.
We had a local dozer operator who was attacked by some kind of domestic bees and backed over his pickup. I don't know if it's true, but it makes a good story.
Stuck

 

[pjbci]

That sounds like something one of my operatorators would do to MY pickup! Lol!

 

[TomSeller]

What do the experts say will stop these beasts? Cold? Wet? Or will they make their way to Alaska?

 

[farmgirl19]

I hope they find a way to contain them, and try to eliminate them. I really like my open cab. I also like being able to run all day, every day for almost a week, on 11 gallons of fuel! Once one hangs the A/C and other stuff on them, can't get by with such a low fuel burn. *sigh*

 

[PeterK]

Would a spray can of wasp and bee killer drive them away?

Another reason to keep a fire extinguisher handy. It will cool their jets enough to survive an attack. Be sure to train your family on extinguisher usage too. I carry a can of wasp spray on tractor when I mow the fields because up here (in Maine) we have yellow jackets and white faced hornets that build their nests in the young willows that grow up each season. I've been hit in the back of the head by them before and know that signal is a signal by the hornets to directly to leave the area, or else!

Be safe and think (and drive) ahead!

 

[KYErik]

Although it is counter intuitive, best thing is to not move/swat at them- they are somewhat attracted to movement. I once got into a small red wasp nest (15 wasps) along the edge of a field while mowing hay- although I was very alarmed, I saw the wasps going for the moving fan and they seemed to also be attracted to the exhaust stack. I stayed perfectly still and didn't attract their attention and they all gave up by the time I got 200 feet away. I braved another round with the same strategy and it worked again.

As a bee keeper, once bees start to attack/sting they release alarm pheromones and draw more bees to the area that is being stung. Once the bees are alarmed, there is isn't much you can do to stop them- I had a really mean hive and once they got after me (I was wearing a suit, but 1-2% of the stingers can go most of the way though the suit/leather gloves- so when you are getting attacked by 600 bees, you can expect 6-10 light stings+ the ones that crawl up your shoes and sting you through the socks...)- even smoking myself with heavy puffs of smoke from my smoker (making a smoke cloud around myself) didn't seem to deter them. I suppose the bug killer would kill a few thousand, but there would be several more thousand on the way, maybe the fire extinguisher would work better than nothing at all.

I am not familiar with africanized bees, but I have found that the best thing to do with my angry bees is to get away from the hive as fast as you safely can (put the tractor in road gear if you can travel away that fast safely). I have a golf cart and it is really handy for a quick retreat. Most of them give up after getting 100 yards from the hive but a few will hang on for 200+ yards.

Running into a garage or enclosed building or even a house and closing the door is a good strategy if you are on foot. In my experience, once you get indoors, most of the bees that followed you in will immediately give up and fly back to a window and try to get out. I harvest honey inside my garage (doors closed). A few angry bees always follow me in, but as soon as I get into the garage and the door is closed, they would instantly forget about me and fly to the windows and try to get back out. Running under a low shade tree doesn't have the same effect (been there, tried that).

 

[grsthegreat]

Ive been attacked from ground living wasps..or hornets... here in idaho. The first time was in open cab JD870. i ran like an olimpian, and left the tractor running in neutral. it shut itself off after awhile when fuel ran out. i didnt approach the tractor till nightfall with wasp spray. Not sure why seat switch didnt kill the engine.

the second time was last summer. again ground dwelling variety under manure pile. they came at me like crazy...but i know have a cab tractor. i just kept working...and destroyed the hive.


We dont have killer bees here in north idaho ...hopefully never will. Three weeks ago i was in California dealing with my mothers estate, and she has a swarm of killer bees living in the water meter enclosure. They moved from the tree that was torn out last year. A bee keeper came to collect what he thought were honey bees...but turned out to be killer bees. the hive was destroyed. Some apparently moved on. that hive has now been destroyed also.

well see where they will turn up next

 

[BigMike50]

What do the experts say will stop these beasts? Cold? Wet? Or will they make their way to Alaska?

they will not travel north. The experts say that the beers can not take cold weather . They will stay south

 

[Redneck in training]

When I was a kid we used to disturb ground living wasps for fun. You would stick a branch in the hole and run. Until one day we run from one nest and stopped right on another. I run but friend of mine was just turning around swapping the wasps and being hit many times. So I run back and to pull him him away. Both of us got stung mostly on face and around eyes. One of my eyes was completely shut and the other was just a slit. There was no mercy from my mother. She sent me to school next morning so all kids could see what could happen to fools.

 

[farmgirl19]

Moms are funny, like that! Well, they used to be. Now, they'd probably look for someone to blame besides the kids.

Bet you learned to leave those wasps alone, Redneck! :laughing: