Beekeepers is this is true ???

[TexasTimbers]

My fireman buddy calls about an hour ago and says I gotta go over to their town (the thriving metropolis of Ector, Texas) and cut down a 36 - 40" Pecan tree too big for any chainsaw they got. But I can't come til after dark to do it. So I says "Hmmm. This sound real peculialar whassup with this - you know I quit stealin trees after you busted me out of the joint last time."

He says "I can't remember, are you scareda bees?" Oh DanG. Nope not as long as they ain't stinging me. Well good cause this dead Pecan is plumb full of honey bees and we got to get this tree down. He says the bee keeper will be there to keep them off of me but they won't be a problem at night nayway so I have no worries.

This don't sound kosher. Wonder if my buddy is pullin another some kinda practical joke on me. Why can't the Bee fella  just smoke 'em out and capture them

[Tom]

You can't smoke'm out and capture them  Here's the science to smoke.  If the smoke is wood oriented, they think the hive is in danger and gorge themselves on honey so that they can save it.  When Gorged they are not only a bit calmer, but they can't get their abdomen turned under very good to sting you.  That's why you don't get stung much when you smoke bees.

During the day, most of the hive *the older ones, are out foraging and are in and out of the hive with nector.  There are guard bees protecting the hive too.  At night, all of the bees are home.  Unless the hive is sealed up, you can get into double trouble after dark because all of them are there.  Most bees are captured or moved after dark because they are all in the hive and you leave fewer bees lost in the field.  Lost bees are dead bees.  It isn't common for a bee to be accepted into a hive other than her own.

If the hive is way up in the tree, you might not be bothered anyway... until the tree hits the ground.

What I would want to happen is for the bee keeper to seal the hive with a trap. (a cone that allows the bees to go only one way.)  Then catch the bees as the go to work in the morning and seal them into a hive.   Or, if it is possible, seal the hive at night after they all come home.

Whatever.  If you saw on a bee tree,  make sure you have a bee helmet and veil, gloves, long sleeved shirt and tape the wrists and ankles.  Check the beekeeper out for spares.

[farmerdoug]

Besides what Tom has said, Bee Trees are hollow somewheres otherwise there would be no place for the bees.  Most bee trees cut around here are not worth sawing.  And yes bees will find you and sting at night too.  They may not see you well at night but with 30-50 thousand angry bees looking for a target you will be found.  And one sting will get you hundred more because they will be able to smell you from the first sting. 

Kevjay,  One more word of warning.  You are in killer bee territory so even just starting your chainsaw could get you in trouble.  If the tree really has to go, cut it in the day time went you can see what you are doing.  If you use a light at night to see so can the bees see it too.  And get the beekeeper to let you use a bee suit that fits right too.  Bees maybe small but the numbers can kill you quick.

Farmerdoug

[Haytrader]

This just happened to be on ABC News out of Wichita, Ks. at 10 tonight.

 http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/7753392.html

On the video it showed a beekeeper scooping up the bees and putting them in a hive.
He wore no hood or protective clothing.
Don't ask me how he kept from getting stung.

[Tom]

When bees are swarming, their mind is on starting a new hive and not losing the queen.  It's seldom one gets stung when handling a swarm.  If you do, it's not many stings.   

Thats how people put bees all over themselves for world record pictures, etc. They find the queen or use one of their own and place it on their head.  the swarm moves to the queen to take care of her.  Move the queen and the swarm moves too.

When a bee keeper captures a swarm, all he has to do is shake the branch or cut the branch and move the bees to a hive box.  Once the queen is in there, the bees don't want to go anywhere else.   He seals the box and goes home. 

[TexasTimbers]

Well everything went well. Quite well actually. It was what was promised and more. I took pictures to show you what I mean, but when I left the shop a little before dark I left the camera cord. I remembered my camera though and tomorrow I will post pictures of what all was inside of that very hollow (the whole length) tree that was indeed full of bees. No one got a single sting.

But I came home with more than what I bargained for.

You'll just have to see tomorrow.

[JAMES G]

I took part in an event such as that once we had bees in a tree on a construction site and the bees and the tree had to go. so we went at night and put window screen over the entrance and came back next morning and started by smoking the bees to calm them down then we cut all the branches off untill we had nothing but trunk standing then we took small slabs off the top of the trunk untill we cut into the hive as the saw passed threw the top of the hive the bees went down deeper into the hive and we put screen over the top then we cut the trunk down low where there was still solid wood and then had a frontend loader put it on a trailer for us. looking back it was not worth all the trouble  

[TexasTimbers]

I pretty much knew going in I wasn't going to be getting any usable mill wood. The city needed it out of the way. Turns out, their boys had been whittling on it at it already with their undersized, dull chained saws. The did get the rock road that it blocked when it fell clear enough for vehicles to pass. I guess that road taht goes through the marshy part just west of the city gets maybe 3 cars an hour. Maybe.
One thing my buddy had said was "You need to bring thqat moster saw of yours this thing is probably 36" - 40" across" .
When I arrived I thought to myself "Maybe 32"
So when one of them saw the 395XP laying in the back with the 50" bar he said "Man that thing has a Yamaha motorcycle engine on it I want to hear it run!" Geez these Texas quasi-city boys need to get out more. I grabbed Hilda (372xp) with a 32" bar on it, overkill but it was already on and went to work. I'll tell the rest tomorrow.

[TexasTimbers]

Well here's what we found besides bees, and I was going to tell the whole story but seeing how some people don't appreciate my stories I'll just post the pictures. 

[Dan_Shade]

might wanna check into what your state's DNR says about that sort of thing if you're so inclined to be concerned with such activities!

[TexasTimbers]

It's lax here, but the beekeeper said take 'em or they die cause according to him once momma split she ain't coming back. The bar cut one of the babies in half and at least nicked her we think, and the habitat is now gone too. Don't know if he was right but I wouldn't doubt it. She looked like the Tasmanian Devil coming up out of that hole she was still peddling her feet when she airborne.

[PawNature]

I had one when I was younger. A real girl getter. It would ride with its hind feet on the steering column, and front feet on the dash. Mom hated that coon, it would catch her out in the wash house doing laundry and sneek up on her and start patting on her bare feet. Then there would be this terrifing screem. I can still hear it.   

[thurlow]

kevjay..............who-all don't appreciate your stories?   We need to know; counseling may be needed.  My folks had 2 of those.........one each at two different times......after I was grown and married.  They were collected at younger ages than yours.  They had the run of the place.  Reminded me of what Paw said;  Mama would hang the wash out to dry;  the coon loved to play with/pat the wet wash..........especially sheets.  MAMA DIDN'T LIKE THAT.  The couch in the den was high enough off the floor that they could get under it;  you oughta see a preacher's wife when a raccoon.........which she didn't know was there.......reached out and grabbed the back of her ankle.  The first  one got into some anti-freeze in the shop; can't remember, she was about 3 years old.  The second one started leaving home when she was about 2; first time just overnight; started staying longer and longer; eventually she didn't come home. 

[farmerdoug]

Kevjay,

I am willing to let you come up to the farm and collect as many as you want.   They are cute but eat the heck out of my sweet corn.  I shoot them at any given chance around here.

Farmerdoug

[TexasTimbers]

Thurlow, I have heard that from nearly everyone who has had a coon, that they eventually make it back into thew wild. That's out goal too.

Farmerdoug. If I am raising sweetcorn after our coon has made it back into thw wild and she comes around later and eats it I will shoot her too. Just won't tell the kids or wife.

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Kev, ain't nothing wrong with yer stories that a good reading won't fix. 

[TexasTimbers]

Yes you are right I shouldn't be so sensitive. I'm in the mood to share lots of stories.

[farmerdoug]

Kevjay,  I hope that is not a picture of the bee tree you cut down.

More stories please.  That is what life amounts too.  I enjoy stories from others being true or otherwise.  Heck,  that is have the fun being on here.

Farmerdoug

[TexasTimbers]

It never occured to me that someone might think anything I've related about my past experiences would be untrue. It kind of let the wind out of my sails I guess. I guess I have led a much more interesting life than what I realized, and others who have not, cannot comprehend it.

The truth is, I would not think about sharing some of the really intersting things that I have had happen/been involved with/experineced because many times I look back and can hardly believe some it myself.

[farmerdoug]

Kevjay,

I never meant to imply that you have untrue stories, just that I enjoy those too.

I know several people that I take with a grain of salt.  The wilder the story the better sometimes.  Beleive it or not.
 
Farmerdoug

[okie]

Kevjay, If you plan on keepin one of those for a pet, keep a male and castrate him now. Females are good too if you can find a vet that will spay her before her first heat cycle, after that they tend to go a little bonkers. I have had a total of 5 and this is my experience with them and what a lot of reading got me. Males and females both are just like babies till they get to be about a year old then they get well lets say rambunctuous. The males seem to be more level headed all around but require more attention early in life or will be kind of a loner. Castrating them helps this and also makes them calmer and less destructive. If you castrate them yourself though make sure you cut the tube a good deal from the testicle, the tube widens where it meets the testicle and if you get any part of  that wide left on then the thing will still think he's all there and act like it ( I dont know why but its true). Here cutting them up close to the testicle like that is called a proud cut, do it to a dog and he will still try and breed and hike his leg on every tree in the woods.

[TexasTimbers]

That is great info okie. muchas gracias. I think we have a female. I looked and seen little tiny dots for nipples but like puppies males have those too. I dodn't see any testes, but have been told they simply are not there at all for viewing until they drop. If this is a male the poor fella is practically un-endowed on the other part too cause I can't see a thing except a little - well - I don't mean this in a vulgar way but the best way i can describe it is there is a little mound there. Very slight.

I can trade with one of the other fellas because they both wanted a female but none of us could tell what we had the other night, but my kids and wife has already got attached to the varmint so there ain't gonna be no trading. So if it's a female can we spay it ourselves? The vet done said she won't work on wild animals for pets. She's agin it I suppose. Better to have left it to die in some folks eyes.

Also, if we have her spayed, we cannot ever let her work her way back into the wild again can we?

[Tom]

Why disfigure the poor little girl?   

My cousins had a pet coon when we were little.  It grew up and got mean.  They kept it in a pen.  It was a Boar Coon and was huge.  My Uncle finally "let it go".

[PC-Urban-Sawyer]

I know several people that I take with a grain of salt.  The wilder the story the better sometimes.  Beleive it or not.

I've known a couple who needed a whole shaker...

[okie]

Kevjay, Spaying is something a vet should do. Castrating however is something most any farm boy can and has done and from my experience it aint no different from one critter to the next. If you are going to release it it is best to let it be, and tend to it for a year then release it BUT.... that coon is going to have a acceptance of people and expect food from them so the best thing for the coon is to bottle feed it to weaning then pen it and supply it with a hollow stump for a den and sever all contact with it. it will take a few weeks but the critter will become nocturnal and you can feed and clean the pen during the daylight without having contact with it and it will soon go wild. They have natural instincts to dig and fish fo their food and a curiosity matched by none. Goat milk or cat milk replacer works best for bottle feeding. If you dont sever contact with the animal when you release it you can count on it being killed because it will find a house and expect the people inside to be just like you. It is nearly impossible to tolerate a sow coon that hasnt been spayed once she reaches heat age, she will change and instinct will take over, she will get loud, onery, and quite destructive, many times they get down right viscious. That is a true statement despite how cute and cuddly and loving they are now, she WILL change reguardless of how much love and attention she gets. Boars if given ample attention will have a fairly consistant attitude but will get rougher in their play and more destructive if not castrated. A castrated kit coon will change very little and will get very fat and lazy as it matures if he is not proud cut. This has nothing to do with disfigurement, kitten coons are very much like babies and it is very hard for some, especially maternal women, to just seperate themselves from the coon so many try and keep the coon till it gets too much and then dumps it which is pretty much a death sentence for the coon. If you are going to release the coon, I would leave it intact and have as little contact with it as possible, if not it is best to make them tolerable. Just my 2 cents, I truely have been there done that many times.
Morgan.

[TexasTimbers]

Okay Morgan, I can already see that releasing is probably not gonna be an option then. My wife even more than the kids has already bonded with it. She woke up twice during the night, without setting an alarm with the urge to feed it and she did.
If this coon is a she, and we do have it spayed, is it possible she will she be tolerable? I know you have said the males are fairly good temperment once cut, and i can see where you said the she's are not tolerable when not cut, but I can't see where you said the shes are tolerable once cut.
Could you PM me your phone number? I think you might be a lifeline we might need to call in a day or two. You could save me alot of trouble.

[okie]

Kevjay, I am not very articulate, in short either are very much tolerable when cut, males are best if they are done as soon as their boys drop, females must be done before their first heat which can be in as little as 6 mo of age, I am guessing that yours are around 6 weeks from the photo. I will pm you my cell #. If I am at work I will not answer but will call you back.
Morgan.

[beenthere]

The following article (report) is one main reason I would avoid any extra contact with racoons.

Roundworm eggs in racoon scat

This disease has been affecting humans, and I have concerns about how easy it might be to inadvertently ingest one of these eggs, which can lie dormant for years apparently. It's a risk I wouldn't be willing to take. It may be a very low risk too.

[Corley5]

They're also susceptible to canine distemper and rabies.  You'll need to have it vaccinated

[okie]

Roundworms are rampant in many dogs too, Valbazen will kill the roundworms and hook worms out of any mammal. Coons are subject to get any mammal disease that domestic animals can get and can be treated just as dogs. 7 in 1 shot at the coop costs about $6 and most vets will sell you a predrawn syringe of rabies vac for less than $10. Valbazen is special order in most places although my coop carries it, it is $25 for a 500 ml bottle and if you are using it on dogs and such will last well past expiration date on bottle which is about 2 years. You give it 1/2cc per 10 lbs of body weight, This is the best intestinal wormer on the planet bar none.

[Furby]

I'm so sick of that DanG cr** about worms rabies and other stuff.
It's true, but it's all DanG twisted up to meet someone elses control needs.

ALL mamals carry the same odds of getting and carring rabies, that includes humans!
We can all get worms at any time. Heck, some of you LOVE to eat rare meat, but you are at a VERY high risk of getting parasites from it. Does that mean you start cooking your meat as well done as you can get it? No, you just go on and ignore the risks cause it's what you want to do.

Safe handling, and proper cleaning to prevent cross contamination goes a long way. Same with with ALL animals. You can greatly reduce the risks if you try. Yes, I know they are still there, but so are lots and lots of risks.

When treating coons, it's best to treat them at the same level as a cat, rather then a dog as the cat levels are much safer and are closer most times to the needs of a coon.

[TexasTimbers]

Here's a update. The little rodent     pest     varmit     bottom feeder bundle of sleeping, eating, cooing joy (not my description) is doing fine. Momma has totally bonded with it. Raccoons are clean, fastidious, and smarter than any other animal on the planet. She says it so that's the way it is. ;

beenthere. I can tell you posted that out of genuine concern and I am grateful to you. I do happen to be of the mindset though that people who choose to smoke, drink excessively, allow themselves to remain obese, or who refuse to take doctor prescribed medication for whatever reason are in a terribly higher risk bracket and also much higher on the stupid scale. I say this to mean I do agree with you that it is a unecssary risk, but we choose to take this risk by taking the other steps for vaccines and shots etc. to remove the risk as much as possible. We will also refuse to allow her to visit communal raccoon latirnes where the disease is prevelant. 
Still I thank you for your concern and information, because that report you linked was well worth the read and very relevant. It was scary at first until we re-read it and put the numbers into perspective and also until we realized the things we can do to reduce the risks to almost nil.

The coon, which has yet to be named since we don't know the sex yet, is doing great. We have finally figured out how to feed it and it sleeps constantly. I had told Furby it would not urinate but unknown to me at the time of saying that she had already done it twice and all that seems to be working fine now.

In fact, I believe my wife is either on the phone with Morgan or Furby getting an education or has at least placed a call to  one of them. I am at the shop, our internet is down at the house and will be out for a day or two until the new radio gets in.

So looks like momma has got a baby to take care of. The boys leave for church camp tomorrow morning, all the girls work, and momma works too.

WHOA! Wait a minute . . . NOOOOOO! That means I have to keep the critter with me at the shop during the day all week!     

Or can it go 10 - 12 hours without food

[Tom]

I think the bigger question is, can it go 15 or 20 minutes without supervision.  Coons are some of the most inquisitive and independent wild animals you an imagine.  Reread about the Gael's Porch Coon and how it turned over her potted plants. (big pots-like 20 gallon pots) in search of worms and such. *I think it was mad at her for not leaving cat food out.

If you can't find the little fellow under the couch where it usually stays, look in, or behind,  the valances over the window, or in your sock drawer. 

[SwampDonkey]

Just peeking in on you bunch of skally-wags. 

[TexasTimbers]

I wonder what it is about battery chargers? He don't have nothing to do with it unless there is a battery plugged in, and then he just won't leave the thing alone.
While working this morning he walked by the charger numerous times without paying any mind as we installed a door. I threw a battery on the charger and i got to noticing he was crawling all over it. He even fell aslepp across it at one point. So I took the battery off and he didn't want nothing to do with the charger anymore. So i put the battery back on after about 20 minutes and he was on it like stink on bait.







I can't help but be curious about this peculiar fascination. Must remind him of momma some how Can't be because it is warm because as soon as the battery went on he went on. And it ain't the battery alone because I layed it on the floor next to the charger and he didn't even notice it hardly. Sniffed it once and then sauntered off to greener pastures.

[Radar67]

The heat and the hum?

Stew

[SwampDonkey]

I was wondering the same thing. The little feller is probably half froze, no moma's fur to curl up in. 

Now where's that sack and stone? 

[TexasTimbers]

Donk you are one mean dude. I am glad my poor little Coon Feller is not relying on you for his TLC. Notice I am calling her a He and Him now. I think that little mound on it's tummy is too far away from the derrier to be a girly thang and there is no visible - um - slit on the mound.

I built the little guy his own little Coon Flat, and it sleeps inside on my shop couch (til the boys get back from church camp and my coonsitting duties will be at an end). Look how warm he is...... I am a good Coon Daddy. 



 

[SwampDonkey]

COUCH IN THE SHOP??? 


You realize what coons do to clean couches? They become soiled. Should see the lumber piles in the barn where their deposits were left last summer.


Man, I gotta get that door fixed. I also gotta use some steel to line the door bottoms so the coons, ground hogs and squirrels can't chew more holes in it. I got another door on the barn that is going to get a steel shield on it's bottom edge.


It's war on the rodents. 

I think ya just showed them pictures to win the girls. 

[TexasTimbers]

Nah I already got the best girl I could ever get bar none. As to the towels they get tossed. We don't throw anything he comes in contact with in the wash. 'Cept the clothes we got on and so far he ain't soiled anyone's shirt or nothin.

Hey I am right there with ya on the critters man. I have decided to give this one a free pass for whatever reason but I am not a softy on the rest of the coon or critter populkation of the workd. When they come around here causing destruction and wreaking havoc and soiling my footpaths they gonna get filled with lead too.

[Dan_Shade]

he is a cute little bugger,  I hope you make out all right with him.

you might have to get a puppy if you run into "issues" with him to fend off the women folk.

[Jeff]

I've heard a couple local old timers say "That when the golden rod is ripe, and the hives are full of honey, and the weather is just so, its time for the hives to split."


Well, My sister and brother in law were witness to this very phenomenon a week ago yesterday.  We were going back to De Tour from Sault St. Marie and just out side of Pickford I noticed what looked to be smoke coming from the top of two different trees a few hundred yards a part.  Turns out they were honey bees.  The interesting part of this is that between Pickford and De Tour Village, we counted 77 swarms in total in the tops of the tallest trees in that given area. A distance of less then 15 miles. It was a pretty amazing site and the part of the golden rod was right on.  The weather was overcast and very moist, probably around the mid seventies for temperature. It was great fun for Lynda and I to be scanning the trees and saying THERE'S ANOTHER ONE! 

 

[Warbird]

It never occured to me that someone might think anything I've related about my past experiences would be untrue. It kind of let the wind out of my sails I guess. I guess I have led a much more interesting life than what I realized, and others who have not, cannot comprehend it.

I feel the same way about a lot of my past.

[SwampDonkey]

I thought I saw a swarm last week to. It was the same idea as Jeff's swarm in the pic.


Sure are lots of basketball sized hornets nests on one of our thinning blocks.We've found at least 10. Gotta leave a 5 meter buffer or be attacked. That's if your lucky to spot one. 

[TexasTimbers]

I just did a google on this a few eeks ago wanting to see an update. i just did one again since the thread popped back up. I hope Jeff's experience is a good sign. Here is what the latest "experts" say. Yale Global Bee Report

I don't have a clue so maybe a Forestry Forum Bee Sigthing Report is in order.


Got Bees

[Brad_bb]

So is that Racoon on solid food, or are you giving him some kind of milk substitute?