Roughly three months back, my parents-in-law were attacked by killer bees. According to my father-in-law, he almost passed out due to thousands of extremely painful stings until they were able to reach their car. Thank God that a local hospital is just a few minutes drive from the place of attack. This brings me back to safety issues in the survey field.
Wearing bee protection suit while surveying is not a good idea. I also think of a quick setup tent but protection is very minimal or even negligible if thick smoke is not present. According to the locals, setting up thick smoke is the only guarantee you'll have in driving out killer bees.
I remember five to six years back that a US or Canada company was developing a smoke bomb for killer bees. I also remember that it comes with different smoke colors - blue, red, yellow.
Any idea? Thank you.
Will you clarify something please.
In the states "Killer Bees" are generally the Africanized Honey Bees & I have always heard they are far more aggressive than the regular European Honey Bees.
However as your profile states that you're in the P.I. what kind of bees are you referring to?
Roughly three months back, my parents-in-law were attacked by killer bees.
Sorry to hear that. I've never encountered any aggressive bees in Florida, only aggressive ground wasps. One bit me in my right eyelid. Joy!
Maybe I am using the wrong name here but I call this deadly giant honey bee as killer bee. Numerous recorded attacks that caused deaths is a reality in the Philippines.
Not familiar with giant honeybees but in FL honeybees are relatively docile. We have set up in the middle of about 20 hives in an orange grove on numerous occasions and have never been bothered. Yellow Jacket's are another story.?ÿ ?????ÿ
Don't know if this helps or not but certain colors can set bees off as they are sensitive to ultraviolet light and certain scents like banana which closely resembles their alarm pheromones, can trigger an attack. I've kept bees for the last twenty years and I can tell you that some hives have more attitude than others. Typically when they get riled up one of the workers will mark their intended target with pheromones or scent for the others to home in on and attack in mass. So my advice is don't wear bright colors and don't smell like bananas and after the first bee sting, don't hang around for the rest to show up. A head net, gloves and long pants and sleeves would offer some protection since your throat and face is what they will instinctively go for and is about the worst places to get stung. Your throat swells and shuts down your ability to breath, you're pretty well f****d. Keep some antihistamines like benadryl handy and for someone allergic they'll need an epipen shot quickly or they could go into shock and that usually doesn't end well.?ÿ Better to know if someone is allergic before they get stung.
Some of the hives in the Caribbean are Africanized. A friend was stung badly and hospitalized but recovered OK. I haven't heard of any deaths. As soon as I hit an iron pipe to set a corner about 6 feet from a very active hive in a tree, the bees started bumping me in the face. As I (and my I-man) ran away they followed us at least 500 feet but didn't sting. I went back at night to set the corner. No problems. ?ÿ
This would be fun.....
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I know while in the field in the wilds of west Texas, we've encountered swarms of bees in the past, we've never been "attacked", I once laid on the ground and the cloud flew over / past me, but I carried Wasp / Hornet / Bee spray in my pocket, always wore long sleeved shirts and denim pants and had an epi-pen in my Mule / Ranger.
This Spring I was out surveying range land and I encountered two swarms hanging onto some fence posts.?ÿ Interesting from the comfort of my Jeep Cherokee (Windows rolled up of course).
