Bee Question

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TheBullLady

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Totally off the subject of cattle.. can anyone help? We recently hauled a dozer home that had been sitting in a field for awhile. I noticed over the weekend what looked like a swarm of bees around the back end. I waited until it got cooler, and saw a BUNCH of them going in and out of a space between a piece of sheet metal and where the tracts are. Impossible to get to, without taking the dozer apart.

How would you suggest I get rid of the bees? Hopefully without getting stung more than once or twice! :roll:
 
I saw a swarm of bees on a guys bumper once, He tried several things to get them off. Driving 80 MPH, Driving backwards through a cornfield,I don't know if these are the same kind of bees. This happened in S. Texas.We think that it was the males swarming the Queen Bee , after about 3 days the whole swarm dissapeared , So my suggestion is leave them alone for a little while and see what happens! :lol:
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What about those wasp and bee sprays that you can get at tracter supply and hardware stores? We got one that is in a green can with yellow writing (can't think of brand) and has a stream that sprays up to 14 ft away so you can stand back and get a head start or running if you need to.
 
Think there are several very fairly safe insecticides you can use. One I think is Carbaral (generic name) which goes by the popular name of "Sevin".

Just find something to use and spray the heck out of the equipment!

Bees, livestock, people, and equipment don't mix...don't care what the bee breeders, advocates, honey producers say. Disturb bees (or wasps) and you'll probably get stung...AND, never know if those are Africanized (killer) bees that are very agtgressive!

I like to eat honey, and respect the job of bees to pollinate crops; however, don't want them on my property as residents or even traveling through and spending the night.
 
assuming they are not somewhere that might cause an explosion, i'd douse them with some deisel.
 
I am not an bee expert by no means, I just want to let you know before you try to spray a chemical on them that it probably won't work like it will on wasp's and hornet's.
Bee's usually swarm so thick and the Queen is typically on the bottom of the pile and the bee's will remain protecting her until she decides to leave, the rest will be busy stinging the Pee-Hockey Poo out of you and whoever else is nearby. When a Bee Collector retrieve's hives they use smoke and they slowly brush the bee's away until they can see the Queen at which point they will put her in their box and they slide the top on it and the remainder of the bee's will enter the box through a small hole and once that is done they will unstall a plug in the hole and they will leave.
If you attempt this maneuver yourself I have been told the worst time to do it is on a windy day or a cloud covered day. I was told that the bee's typically won't leave the hive under cloudy condition's because they use the sun to navigate, and when it is windy it is just too hard for them to be real productive.
Well I will shut up now !

Good Luck On Your Venture .
2short
 
Learn from my pain. Between last summer and so far this summer I've had four run-ins with bees. The bees in two of the swarms were gentle, one was somewhat aggressive and one was full blown Africanized. Not fun. If they're the typical domestic honey bee they aren't bad to deal with. If they're Africanized, they can be hell. They will hit you all over but they especially tend to go for your face and head.

If the bees have been there for more than a few days they've probably set up shop and have a hive going. You can call out a pest control guy to kill them or you can try it yourself. The challenge is getting the insecticide delivered effectively while they're protected by all the metal on the dozer. If you decide to attempt it I would recommend you use a water hose and a chemical sprayer attachment like those used to spray fruit trees. Set the dose to at least what is recommended on the label and mix in plenty of dishwashing soap with the chemical. That makes it much harder for them to fly. It's best to wait till sundown before you start. Also, don't wear any dark clothing because they tend to come after that more. White is best.

Unless you've got good reason not to it's worth it to call an exterminator.

Craig-TX
 
Good advice! When in doubt...call a bee expert...or use C-4 and get the heck away fast.... When I made my post about insecticide I just assumed the person was talking about a few bees... If its a swarm that's taken up residence ... YES ... don't mess with them yourself!
 
I would call a bee man. We have too many Aficanized bees down here to mess around with bees yourself. We have a deal with a bee man where he puts a hundred hives on our land each year and then brings us honey in exchange for the "use of our organic flowers". We don't use chemicals on the ranch and he is thrilled by that. Occasionally a hive will form here or there, or on a neighbors place. He captures them if called and he can get here. He has about 3,000 hives across Texas so it's not real fast that he can make it. I hate the thought of anyone killing a bee. There were some watermelon farmers on the news this spring complaining that they had no melons because there were no bees. I have lots of bees.
 
TexasCountryWoman":6sotkb0m said:
I would call a bee man. We have too many Aficanized bees down here to mess around with bees yourself. We have a deal with a bee man where he puts a hundred hives on our land each year and then brings us honey in exchange for the "use of our organic flowers". We don't use chemicals on the ranch and he is thrilled by that. Occasionally a hive will form here or there, or on a neighbors place. He captures them if called and he can get here. He has about 3,000 hives across Texas so it's not real fast that he can make it. I hate the thought of anyone killing a bee. There were some watermelon farmers on the news this spring complaining that they had no melons because there were no bees. I have lots of bees.

If I get a swarm that can be readily accessed I call a bee man. He opted to capture last summer's Africanized bees and explained that all he has to do is find the queen, kill her, and replace her with one of his gentle queens. The other bees have a very short life span and once they have died off and been replaced with her offspring the hive will be gentle. I've gotten to know him all too well – ha.

If the bees are in an area where they can't be easily captured then I call an exterminator. It seems like the stings bother me a lot more than they used to. Bee stings themselves don't hurt much but for the next few days I look and feel like I've been in a fist fight.

Bees are fascinating animals and there's no doubt they serve a critical purpose. But if they're aggressive then in my mind napalm is too gentle.

Craig-TX
 
Craig-TX

How does your friend know if the bees are africanized bees or gentle bees when he finds them to replace the queen? Don't they attack if the queen is killed?
 
You'll know right quick if they're Africanized. Meaner than @#$%& if you get near them. Regular bees will be pretty tolerant of you messing around close by unless your making a lot of noise (e.g. mower or tractor) or you're wearing dark hat/clothes. The guest's remark above about cloudy days is also accurate.

Africanized bees look exactly like regular bees but they will get all over you if you get close and they will chase you a LOT farther. A couple of times this middle aged guy found speed and endurance he didn't know he still had. I took 25 or 30 hits on the last go-around, mostly in the head and upper body. I used to think I might take up beekeeping but after a couple of scraps with the mean variety I lost interest.

A bee man will have the suit, headgear, smokers, etc. to take them on, and still get stung now and then but not too much. He will replace the queen after he moves them to a hive box where she will be easier to find. The smoke settles them down pretty good.

I'm sure there are some folks reading this who forgot more last night than I know about bees. All I know is what I've learned first hand, and for some reason that tends to be the hard way.

Craig-TX
 

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