Bees

[alisonb]

As normal each day after my cows have had their ration they go up to a veld /bush area during the day to graze. This afternoon they we coming down the cattlewalk and stopped to rest in the shade of a big tree - that is residence to a hive of wild African bees. One moment they were standing there and the next they were charging home :shock: . I presumed it was bees so quickly donned my beekeeper's suit and hat and mixed a dip that I could spray with a backpack. It was strange, the bees were only attacking a specific cow and calf, she had calved the night before, I wonder why???
The dip eventually chased the bees away and I'm monitoring the cow/calf. The calf seems fine but cow has swollen eyes and is breathing a little noisely - I gave her Allegex(all I had).

 

[3waycross]

My guess is they smelled blood..........dam Alison those are some badass bees.

 

[ga.prime]

There was a story in the news last week where africanized bees killed a 1000lb hog in Arizona. The story said the bees spread pheromones on the hog and that incited more and more bees to attack. I would have thought a hog's skin was too tough for bee's stingers to even penetrate.

 

[ANAZAZI]

See, now your herd numbers start to rise again! I hear african bees are generally more efficient and more agressive, than european bees. Are you going to raid them to make mead? I would :nod:

 

[Anonymous]

They may not have been africanized, just a touchy colony. When we had hives right in the pasture the cows would knock the boxes over to get at the comb and honey. I'm sure they got stung hundreds of times, but never saw any swelling like that. Hope the calf is ok

 

[3waycross]

See, now your herd numbers start to rise again! I hear african bees are generally more efficient and more agressive, than european bees. Are you going to raid them to make mead? I would :nod:

It's my understanding that they make less not more honey. They are efficient killers though.

 

[ANAZAZI]

See, now your herd numbers start to rise again! I hear african bees are generally more efficient and more agressive, than european bees. Are you going to raid them to make mead? I would :nod:

It's my understanding that they make less not more honey. They are efficient killers though.

That might apply to the "killer bees" you have in america? They are partly african (agressive) and partly south american (lazy).

Efficiency; 1.african, 2.european, 3.south american.
Agressiveness: 1.african, 2.european, 3.south american.

Anyway; god is great, mead is good, and bees are crazy! (I might be paraphrazing here, although I am likely to never admit it)

 

[Stocker Steve]

Anyway; god is great, mead is good, and bees are crazy!

Is mead just for wild Viking celebrations, or does it have other uses?

 

[ANAZAZI]

Anyway; god is great, mead is good, and bees are crazy!

Is mead just for wild Viking celebrations, or does it have other uses?

Basically yes.However it is also common in nonviking environments, like africa. And often one becomes drunk easily, because it is so sweet, Everything about honey that is bringing health is still there in mead, because it is never heated, just peacefully fermented.

 

[alisonb]

Well I'm not sure whether the Africanized bee (hybrid between European + African bee) is more productive or not, what I do know is the African bee is not referred to as the 'killer bee' for nothing. They chased that cow about a half a mile home and would not leave, it took a lot of spraying. Talk about an adrenaline rush - who needs to go bungee jumping :shock: . The cow and calf are fine thanks, and yes ANAZAZI I now have 5 next week it'll be 6 :) . I won't raid them, they are in a tree trunk so I have no access to honey, I will have to poison them unfortunetly as 3way says 'they are badass bees'.
There are some really terrible stories on bee attacks and what usually happens is one is helpless to help the person/animal unless you are kitted out.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

They may not have been africanized, just a touchy colony.

Being that she lives in Africa, I'm assuming that they are indeed African bees.

I'm glad the cow is still alive, and hope she stays that way.

I just hope that those darned hybrid "killer bees" never find their way this far north into Virginia, the doggone Bell Hornets, Cicada killers and Yellow Jackets are bad enough!

alisonb, be careful when you go out to kill off that hive.

Katherine

 

[Anonymous]

Africanized is more of a term to describe a colony that is extremely aggressive than it is to describe where they came from. I've seen hives from african queens that you could work without a suit on. And I've seen hives of Australian, italian, buckfast and european queens where if you didn't have a suit on you wouldnt last 2 seconds. Kill that hive tho
But ill shut up now. Glad the pair is ok

 

[andybob]

Glad your calf and cow are improving, those bees can be really dangerous, we had a few unforgettable incidents during my military service in Rhodesia, none of them pleasant. Comparing my yields from my bees in Africa and here in England, the pure African are much higher yielders. What breed of cattle are you targeting Alison?

 

[alisonb]

Thanks Kathrine - will be careful, will have to do the deed at night. I must say that the yellow jacket sounds like a bugger, glad we don't get it here ;-)

What breed of cattle are you targeting Alison?

Thanks Andy, had a bit of a dairy (Friesland/Holstein) which I dispersed of a couple of months ago. Have kept three old girls back to have a supply of milk for the household and workforce. Two have recently calved and the third is expected to calve next week - bred to a Bonsmara. It is not my intention to buy in any animals for a while and if/when I do it they certainly won't be dairy animals again. Made my first Feta cheese this weekend, quite an experience ;-) .

 

[Ryder]

I just want to go on record as supporting your killing those bees.
Try to do it before Jogeephus finds out about them. You know how he is :shock:
You don't need any spray painted bees

 

[lavacarancher]

Honey bees, including killer bees, sting only one time and they die. The reason they die after planting their stinger is because the venom is in a "sack" and when they pull loose the sack rips their little butts off and they die. OK, so where I'm heading with this is if the sack is not busted, mashed or squeezed the venom is not injected and therefore the person or animal will not suffer the effects of the sting. So unless the cow rolled on the ground, the sack, more than likely, did not get busted. She should be OK but if you're worried give her some antihistamine.

 

[alisonb]

You are right lavacrancher, they were trying to sting everywhere but probably only managed around the soft spots. The calf got off lightly because it has quite long hair. I spoke to my beekeeper mentor and as GA mentioned, the bees let off a pheromone when they sting thus attracking the other bees so that is why she was getting it and not the other cows. He did not have a positive answer to the reason for the initial attack but did say it could have been a combination of sweat, blood and colostrum or perhaps she just went to close to them??

 

[ALACOWMAN]

do ya'll have any species of animal or insects, that dont come at you intent on killing your ass ?

 

[ga.prime]

:lol2:

 

[alisonb]

The first thing that comes to mind is the elephant, harmless unless provoked.......... :shock: :lol: