Underground wasp nest

[Phil Pascoe]

I knew the effect after the first sting - it nearly killed me.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

Some weeks later, a man from the local council's pest control division came to inspect the 'problem'. George and I were playing outside the front of the house when he arrived and minutes later he came tearing past us, with the swarm chasing him down the street. It really was like you see in kids cartoons, with so many of them giving chase it did look like he was being followed by a black cloud.

Something like this happened to me at the allotment, when I "found" a wasps' nest with a garden hoe. I was running around swatting at myself like a mad thing - they were in my hair, my shirt ... In the end I managed to fight them off with the hosepipe set in a wide spray, beat them back to the hole and shoved the hose down. Left it running for quite a while - they didn't reappear.

 

[Lons]

I can't abide wasps especially in the autumn when they get intoxicated on our apples the ones we get seem to be very aggressive so the electric zapper bat works overtime.

My neighbour keeps bees and twice a swam of them have chased me from the field up to the garden and stung me several times. The vibrations from the petrol mower apparently and fist occasion I had to let the mower run dry after 2 hours as I couldn't get near it.
Neighbour said "what's the problem, they don't sting", he was clad in a full sting proof suit at the time. :roll: :wink:

I wouldn't harm bees though and persuaded the neighbour to move the hives 50 yards from my boundary hedge.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

We used to have a complainy neighbour who had a noisy petrol mower. I would have taken up bee keeping if I had known

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I can't abide wasps especially in the autumn when they get intoxicated on our apples ...

In the autumn as a child I used to amuse myself by putting my ferret in the greenhouse to catch the mice that were running round in circles, drunk on fermented grapes.

 

[Lons]

We used to have a complainy neighbour who had a noisy petrol mower. I would have taken up bee keeping if I had known

:lol: :lol: :lol: I'm not a complainy neighbour though, I've been in this house 31 years and him about 25 and we both have a bit of paddock which is where the bees are kept, we look after his chickens when they're away and it's far enough from the houses for the lawn tractors, his and mine, not to be bothersome - except to the bees of course. :roll: #-o

 

[Inoffthered]

I can't abide wasps especially in the autumn when they get intoxicated on our apples the ones we get seem to be very aggressive so the electric zapper bat works overtime.

My neighbour keeps bees and twice a swam of them have chased me from the field up to the garden and stung me several times. The vibrations from the petrol mower apparently and fist occasion I had to let the mower run dry after 2 hours as I couldn't get near it.
Neighbour said "what's the problem, they don't sting", he was clad in a full sting proof suit at the time. :roll: :wink:

I wouldn't harm bees though and persuaded the neighbour to move the hives 50 yards from my boundary hedge.

It could have been the vibrations, it could also have been the smell of petrol.
I once made the mistake of inspecting my bees shortly after filling up the car.
My normally placid bees went absolutely mental and I had to abandoned the inspection.
When I got home I realised there was a slight smell of petrol on my hands and it was that then upset the bees. I went back the next day and they were as good as gold.
If I ever take take visitors to have a look in one of the hives, I always suggest that they do not wear perfume or aftershave because that can also create agitation in the colonies.

 

[Tris]

As there are a few experienced people here perhaps some of you may be able to answer a question that has puzzled me for a while. In the garden I work in there has, for many years, been a wild bees nest in a disused chimney stack. In most years they are no bother at all but three years back I was stung three times in as many months, with no obvious provocation (to me anyway).
Until then I had not been stung by bees but the reaction was 100 times worse than from a wasp sting and I ended up looking like John Hurt's stand in for the Elephant Man.
Anyway, does anyone know why this might be? They're back to being peaceful again now. Just have to keep the hornets away from them.
TIA
Tris

 

[MikeG.]

I don't know why they stung you, Tris, but if you reacted so badly you should consider whether this was you, not the bees, and that you might be susceptible to anaphylactic shock. This can happen gradually over time, with people who are stung now and then with no problem "suddenly" reacting really badly. Have you been stung since?

If you haven't been stung since, I would consider seeing your GP, who will investigate whether you might need an epi-pen.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

If you have to work near bees, don't wear aftershave, perfume etc. and wear light coloured clothes. There is a good reason why bee suits are white.
You can have hundreds of stings over a time without bad effects and still get hospitalised by one sting. I had an angry hive which I had just re queened when one stung me on the forehead - I got to the doctor's just in time (much closer than A&E), he said years afterwards that it was the closest he'd ever seen anyone come to dying from one.

 

[Tris]

Thanks for the replies,

Mike- I did get further checks as we know someone who nearly died as the result of a bee sting causing anaphylaxis, seems my reaction was a 'cascade effect'. It seemed odd as a wasp sting causes no more discomfort than a nettle does.

Phil- I don't wear scent of any kind as I have mild asthma and it can be a trigger, iirc I was probably wearing a pale grey shirt, dark colours are too warming in summer so not too bear-like :shock:
Did you re queen because the bees were aggressive?

Tris

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yes. I actually stole the hive. It had long been abandoned, so I went with a friend and stuck it in the back of the Suzy jeep. The first year I just renewed all the interior as the colony was weak and in such a state, the second year I took 120lb of honey off and still left two supers. :shock: I got a third at Royal Cornwall show for comb honey the following year with some of that - they filled a super of comb (unwired) foundation in less than a week. The guy I beat into fourth place had been showing for fifty years and it was my first go. Curiously, I heard a steward there telling someone he'd not long given up after keeping them for fifty years (he had his own hive when he was eight) as he'd had one sting that hospitalised him.
Unfortunately they were angry. Boy, were they angry. I re queened that one and two others with New Zealand queens as at the time being quite a quick decision I couldn't get hold of Buckfasts. This was just before I had to give up, which was a pity as I was thinking possibly to emigrate and do it seriously. My new epipens arrived yesterday.
I suspected before that that I reacted to stings worse than most - even a nettle sting actually hurts for 7 or 8 days.