charlie sherrill
Member
There's about 35 acres of land behind me that has been tied up in probate for over six years. The lawyer involved had this on his back burner so it took about four years longer than it should have. I'm patient. The lawyer finished the probate enough that I was able to get clear title to 11 1/2 acres. I bought it. The land was originally a soy bean farm but for the last six years it grew unmolested. I set out clearing about six acres of it because I want my own dove field and might put a steer or two out there. A hog pen is also a possibility. I sold a few Smiths and bought a used Kubota and a bush hog and a disk. I was able to bush hog most of it but in the last six years trees grew up that were too big to run over with the tractor. The remaining trees I have cut with a chain saw and piled up to burn. I leave them to dry some before piling them up and this is where the problem started.
Apparently Momma Bumblebee took up residence in or around one of the cut drying trees. I went out there yesterday to put some of the trees on the burn pile. I did OK for awhile until I got to one small pine tree. As I moved it I heard a buzzing noise and saw a very large yellow and black bumblebee flying in circles around me. Before I could take evasive action she stung me through the cotton short pants I was wearing. As I was then in full evasive action (running like hell on two knee replacements) I could see her flying in circles around me looking for a good point to attack me. I thought these damn things had only one stinger but apparently this is not so. I've been reading some WWII books about naval battles in the South Pacific and for some reason in my panic I thought of the Kamikaze attacks against some of our aircraft carriers. I'm not a little person so If I were a ship I'd probably be a carrier. She hit me again on my arm.
I'm thinking distance might help some but she was relentless. Distance didn't mean anything to her. She hung in there and pursued me even after I was at least 100 yards away from the original attack. She got me again on the right ear. By now I'm back near the house and for some reason I thought the garden hose might help. She got me on the nose. I sprayed the hose on me and her when I could see her coming. She finally left me alone. I use snuff pouches some and I put one where the pain was most noticeable, which was my nose. I got some relief from that so I popped two more snuff pouches in my mouth until they got wet and put one on my ear and the next one on my arm. The sting through my shorts wasn't too bad so I left it alone. After a few minutes I thought she had given up but I was wrong. She hit me on my other ear.
I don't usually have severe allergic reactions to stings and I didn't really have a problem this time, except for two swollen ears and a swollen nose. I looked like a clown for about half an hour but the swelling went down about the same time as the sun. I went back out there today to pile the trees without any problems. I was wearing long pants, sleeves, insect repellant, and a mosquito net over my straw hat just in case. I left the tree with the bird nest alone to avoid another fight.
Apparently Momma Bumblebee took up residence in or around one of the cut drying trees. I went out there yesterday to put some of the trees on the burn pile. I did OK for awhile until I got to one small pine tree. As I moved it I heard a buzzing noise and saw a very large yellow and black bumblebee flying in circles around me. Before I could take evasive action she stung me through the cotton short pants I was wearing. As I was then in full evasive action (running like hell on two knee replacements) I could see her flying in circles around me looking for a good point to attack me. I thought these damn things had only one stinger but apparently this is not so. I've been reading some WWII books about naval battles in the South Pacific and for some reason in my panic I thought of the Kamikaze attacks against some of our aircraft carriers. I'm not a little person so If I were a ship I'd probably be a carrier. She hit me again on my arm.
I'm thinking distance might help some but she was relentless. Distance didn't mean anything to her. She hung in there and pursued me even after I was at least 100 yards away from the original attack. She got me again on the right ear. By now I'm back near the house and for some reason I thought the garden hose might help. She got me on the nose. I sprayed the hose on me and her when I could see her coming. She finally left me alone. I use snuff pouches some and I put one where the pain was most noticeable, which was my nose. I got some relief from that so I popped two more snuff pouches in my mouth until they got wet and put one on my ear and the next one on my arm. The sting through my shorts wasn't too bad so I left it alone. After a few minutes I thought she had given up but I was wrong. She hit me on my other ear.
I don't usually have severe allergic reactions to stings and I didn't really have a problem this time, except for two swollen ears and a swollen nose. I looked like a clown for about half an hour but the swelling went down about the same time as the sun. I went back out there today to pile the trees without any problems. I was wearing long pants, sleeves, insect repellant, and a mosquito net over my straw hat just in case. I left the tree with the bird nest alone to avoid another fight.
