What's your bee story?

[2720wes]

Out doing some "dozer" work with the 2720 yesterday afternoon, clearing some overgrown land to turn into yard, while pushing some small logs I felt something sharp poke my arm. Looked down to see yellow jackets swarming up. I HATE yellow jackets!! No where to go backwards, forward would have put me right in the middle of them so I dove off, rolled about 5 times down hill, hopped up and smashed a few clingers. Thats 1 reason I don't like to disconnect safety switches. The tractor cut off and sat until I moved it after dark.

In all they got me 7 times. Needless to say 'that HURT'. @%#^% bees!! Makes me think of a poor fellow bush hogging under the power lines many years back who hit a nest and got stung 45 times.

Things like this make me think how nice it must be to have a cab. Sitting inside laughing and making faces at the bees as they swarm around.

Its that time of year, be careful out there. I should have observed the area for any activity before I started. Also everyone is invited to a yellow jacket roast today

Wes

 

[sunnyside360]

I've been smacked by bees, mostly yellow jackets, many times during the past 50 years. Most stings at any one time was five and that was 4 years ago while spot spraying brush along the field when I stopped directly over a nest -- broke my glasses swatting them off my face. Worst stings were on the lip and on the eye lid.
I now sit in the tractor cab and watch the bees try to sting the tractor.
Sorry I won't be able to make it to your yellow jacket roast.

 

[woodchuckcanuck]

True story. Last year I had ordered from Sears one of those sweatshirts with a hood, zippered up the front. 'Hoodies' I think what the kids call them these days. I unwrap the plastic bag it came in and proceed to put one arm in, then the other. Then do the shoulder shrug to get it to fit just right...ZAP...ZAP...I scream out OW! OW! , the wife looks at me like I'm crazy. I think its a safety pin or something. Pull off the jacket and there's a bee on my shoulder blade. Slap it, kill it, and stand there in utter amazement at how a bee couple have gotten in there. The hoodie was Made in China so maybe it was a Chinese bee.

 

[Tig]

Worst injury was a few years back. I was swinging an axe at a tree I wanted to remove. Seems I disturbed a nest in a nearby tree and I got stung in mid swing. I spun around to make an exit and smashed my leg on a tree. Staggering to the side I collided with another tree and bruised my ribs quite nicely. That really annoyed me because I know all to well how long ribs take to heal. I collected myself and limped away as quickly as I could, while my wife tried to figure out what had just happened.
This year the bees came after me while I was on the tractor. I shut it down rather calmly, hopped off and looked before I ran away with one still burrowing in my hair. Two weeks later I got again stung again in the same place.
I don't like bees.

 

[Thomas]

Brush hogging..up pant legs..OUCH..down shirt OUCH..in hair OUCH..one could play connect the dots..I believe tractor cannot out run mad wasps.

 

[WH401]

Well, 2 weeks ago when I was cutting grass I had a ball faced hornet fly right into my face and thankfully because I have to wear a respirator because of my allergies, I was able to brush him aside and not get stung. If I hadn't of been wearing it, as well as sunglasses, it wouldn't have ended up so well.

 

[irwin]

My son came by to "help" I told him he could cut down a few trees. When I checked on him he had about 20 trees down, about eight had fallen on top of one another. I was in the third hour of limbing this snarl when I got stung near my right eye, then on my ear..whoa! they're over me and I'm straddling one tree in the middle of a mess of bushy limbs and trunks of many other trees.

The first 2 stings were less than a second apart, the next 6 or 7 stings were while I was swatting and hopping to get out of the jungle. (Thomas) I smacked my glasses off trying to hit em (didn't break ) and dropped the chainsaw at about the same moment.

After I stopped running, I killed the one stinging the back of my head and went to find the hornet/wasp spray. Gave the hive about 15 minutes to calm down then did a sniper stalk back to the area. (easy to find with the chainsaw still there) A white faced hornets nest (alittle smaller than a volley ball) with my foot print crushing part of it.

It took a while to find my glasses

 

[EAGLE1PAR3]

I was at a local Kubota dealer here in Bucks County Penna., while test driving a new tractor I felt a quick pinch and the back of my arm, then another on my wrist, by the time I realized I was being stung, I had been stung three times, by the time i got the tractor parked and got off another 2 stings, Turns out they were building a hive under the left side control fender.

Greg in Pa.

 

[Code54]

Got hit Friday - was out pushing some dirt and clearing our woods with the back blade and wham. Got hit twice fast, then 18 more hits before I could get my seat belt off, shut down the tractor and run for it. So as I stand there talking with my wife about my encounter we hear a loud crash... Well that was the Kubota rolling over the hill (went about 75 feet down a fairly steep hill) before it crashed into a tree. Seems I did not set the parking break as I drove and ran. Well the one 3 point hitch arm is bent bad, the upper link and the other 3pt link maybe bent a bit the back blade - well we will just say it took the real hit - one of the link pin brackets ripped off and the blade made a sort of a "U" shape. Basically junked it. Other wise the tractor is fine and no damage so I got supper lucky. Also it is a fairly steep hill so I am SO glad it never rolled. Could have been much worse. I am still itching but soon as the ran stops the bees will be no more.....

 

[jeffster]

Ugh, I sympathize with you guys. I am in SW Washington and the yellow jackets and hornets are awful this year. I have hit 3 in-ground nests just in the last month (1 on the tractor and 2 on the dozer). We also had a hornet's nest hanging from a reprod tree that was about the size of 2 watermelons. I can't tell you how many nests I have killed and removed from the house eves this summer, but at least those you know what you are dealing with. The in-ground ones are the ones that scare me as you just never know when you are going to hit one and usually then it is too late. I really, really hate those things...

Also, the bees (ok, technically they aren't bees, but...) seem to be more aggressive. I was sighting in rifles today down in our field (has a great bank to shoot into) and over the course of a couple of hours I had 3 lone yellow jackets that would absolutely not leave me alone. I finally had to wait until they got close enough to hit with my hat. Then a while later there would be another one come along. Usually I can just ignore them or maybe swat at them and they'll go away but not this year.

 

[kennyd]

I sucked one up in a straw of a soda about 18 years ago while at work, got me on the tongue-which then swelled up so bad I had a hard time breathing. Ended up at the doctor getting a shot in rear-end! I had never been allergic to bee stings before, but since then every time I get stung I have a worse reaction-may end up with a epi-pen before long.

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

Man...compared to you guys I have been very lucky over the years. I backed over a ground nest with the lawn tractor about 15 years ago and that was my last "sting".

 

[JohnDeere4300]

I've got in several yellow jacket nests this year.

Once I was using my FEL and I scooped over the nest. The ground where I was working was over on the river bank and was soft with sand in it.. The nest was only about 1 1/2ft down, and I tore the whole thing out.. I was lucky that I only got stung 12 times.

Two other times I was using a bush-hog... Once I went over the nest and got stung 4 times.. 3 on the arm & 1 on the neck.. I turned off my tractor and ran away from them

The other time using a bush-hog I had snake-chaps on, and I had them on because I seen 2 copperheads the day before.. I cut over the nest and here they all came out.. They got under my chaps and pants, and I got stung 21 times.

They stung me on my legs, arms, back, neck, chest and face... But the worse was on my legs, and they stung and bit me, and once they got under my chaps they couldn't get out.

So I had one choice to make, and that was to take off my snake-chaps and pants... My wife couldn't believe it when I came riding back to the house in my underwear

 

[Killer_B]

I love my bees.

Killer B

 

[billb3]

I've had ants in piles of mulch, so I turn them over occaisionally, hoping to discourage the ants.
Figured I'd spread the leftover mulch onto a trail I've been using heavily to try to helpwith some wash-out with all the rain we've had lately .
Stuck the loader into a soccer ballsized nest.
Some landed on my head, but I guess they couldn't get a stinger in.

 

[Ken Cunningham]

When i was like 8 or 9, cant remember cause its been sooooo long ago, we were playing hide and seek. We had a bunch of old cars in the very back of our yard, one was made like an elcamino. I ran a jumped in the back right on top of a yellow jacket nest. Got stung about 100 times. I remember running back towards the house yelling and mama came out and used the hose pipe to get em off of me. Ive only been stung 2 times if memory serves me correctly since then and im 44 years old.

 

[jimbo64]

Got hit Friday - was out pushing some dirt and clearing our woods with the back blade and wham. Got hit twice fast, then 18 more hits before I could get my seat belt off, shut down the tractor and run for it. So as I stand there talking with my wife about my encounter we hear a loud crash... Well that was the Kubota rolling over the hill (went about 75 feet down a fairly steep hill) before it crashed into a tree. Seems I did not set the parking break as I drove and ran. Well the one 3 point hitch arm is bent bad, the upper link and the other 3pt link maybe bent a bit the back blade - well we will just say it took the real hit - one of the link pin brackets ripped off and the blade made a sort of a "U" shape. Basically junked it. Other wise the tractor is fine and no damage so I got supper lucky. Also it is a fairly steep hill so I am SO glad it never rolled. Could have been much worse. I am still itching but soon as the ran stops the bees will be no more.....

NOTHIN CAN RUN LIKE A DEERE--------------EXCEPT A FELLA OR GAL BEING CHASED BY SOME MEMBERS OF THE BEE POPULATION.