View Full Version : Bees! Be careful out there.
briarpatch
08-25-2007, 21:23
I was leading a hike today from Unicoi Gap to Tray Mountain Shelter. Just after we topped Rocky Mountain, the 5 people in front began running and yelling "Bees!". We had walked into a cluster of 3 yellow jacket nests that a bear had recently dug into. The bees were pretty agitated and chased this group for a hundred yards or more down the trail with multiple stings (10 or more) per person. Only one of the three of us in the back got stung, but they were hit 3 times. We backed up as soon as the group in front started yelling and the bees were too busy chasing the group in front to notice us, I guess. Needless to say, the hike was cut short. For once, I was glad that I'm a slow hiker and was "sweeping" at the back of the group.
I had had hikers get stung on this same hike last year, but not nearly as bad, so I had told this years group to be sure and bring appropriate medications if they were allergic.
The front group saw a bear cub shortly after they stopped to regroup, so I wonder if he had been disturbing the bees when we walked up.
Be careful out there!
Skidsteer
08-25-2007, 21:57
Two Speed and I scooted by an excavated nest a mile South of Dick's Creek last week. We lucked out and saw them in time to outrun the rascals.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
08-25-2007, 22:01
::: Dino remembers her last encounter with hornets and dives under a bugnet to read this thread :::
The Weasel
08-25-2007, 22:13
In my mini-first aid kit, I carry 2 sudafed, which can alleviate anaphylactic shock. That many stings per person should get fast medical treatment.
African or africanized bees? That aggressive, probably.
Also possible that the were ground hornets. Do you have a positive ID on them?
The Weasel
I'll wager they were yellowjackets.:)
One of my hardest days of hiking was when I had been stung multiple times in the same day by bees. It's amazing how much energy it takes out of you getting stung by bees.
Glad everyone is OK in your group!
Lone Wolf
08-25-2007, 22:22
Also possible that the were ground hornets. Do you have a positive ID on them?
i'm sure they rushed back with their Petersons insect guide to make a proper ID and inform CDC!:D
briarpatch
08-25-2007, 22:23
I'll wager they were yellowjackets.:)
You would win that wager!
Yellowjackets are tenacious SOB's. Glad you avoided the brunt of the attack, but I feel sorry for the less fortunate. The stings are unpleasant.:mad:
briarpatch
08-25-2007, 22:27
i'm sure they rushed back with their Petersons insect guide to make a proper ID and inform CDC!:D
Actually, one of the group SLOWLY came back and sprayed them with industrial strength wasp killer. The only ID we had other than yellow jackets, was "dead yellow jackets".
The Weasel
08-26-2007, 02:50
i'm sure they rushed back with their Petersons insect guide to make a proper ID and inform CDC!:D
Some people know there's a pretty easy-to-see difference. I've been attacked by both and know which is which. Maybe they did, too.
The Weasel
The Weasel
08-26-2007, 02:51
Yellowjackets are tenacious SOB's. Glad you avoided the brunt of the attack, but I feel sorry for the less fortunate. The stings are unpleasant.:mad:
And just as dangerous as bees. People who know they are allergic should carry injectables for attacks.
The Weasel
Straydog
08-26-2007, 06:42
The wife and I were on our way home from the Hike-Inn last weekend and pasted a YJ nest. Unfortunately, we had head shortly afterward that another couple wasn't as lucky as we were. She had been stung 10 times. Not long after that, my wife was stung on the palm of her hand by a hornet/wasp. We put toothpaste on it and the stinging went away almost immediately.
7Sisters
08-26-2007, 08:07
I'd be iterested to hear what Beeman has to say about this - he's a beekeeper.
Lone Wolf
08-26-2007, 08:09
what's there to say?
SGT Rock
08-26-2007, 08:17
Tear off the wings, stingers, and heads then put them in your grits.
FFTorched
08-26-2007, 08:26
Run in a zig-zag pattern, bees can't follow that. I don't know how it works but it does. That's also what they say to do for Killer Bees. Also bees respond to four-letter words so through a bunch of them out there (oh nevermind that's grizz not bees, I read to many animal attack books).
Tipi Walter
08-26-2007, 08:42
I was climbing the Nutbuster Trail in Slickrock wilderness last year when I got stung 3 times by the little yellow jackals and if anyone knows the nutbuster trail, well, I had nowhere to run and nowhere to go. I looked like an idiot running in a tight circle cursing all things natural but I somehow pushed myself uphill enough to get away.
Every year I get stung backpacking and for some reason the little cretins love to live alongside foot trails. They are most aggressive around October when the weather begins to cool. I know I'm in trouble when my fully loaded dog whips past me on the trail with his tail between his legs. He hates 'em, too.
The Weasel
08-26-2007, 08:55
Run in a zig-zag pattern, bees can't follow that. I don't know how it works but it does. That's also what they say to do for Killer Bees. Also bees respond to four-letter words so through a bunch of them out there (oh nevermind that's grizz not bees, I read to many animal attack books).
Zig-zag on a 36" footpath from Georgia to Maine?
The Weasel
FFTorched
08-26-2007, 09:08
It's not my job to figure out how you're supposed to do it, I'm just saying how to get away. It works, I looked like a damn fool one day when I was mowing at work and disturbed some ground bee's but they didn't catch me.
7Sisters
08-26-2007, 09:15
what's there to say?
There were some questions around what type of bees they are? Beeman has a level of expertise in this area that probably most of us don't have.
That's all I was saying, nothing more nothing less............;)
Lone Wolf
08-26-2007, 09:18
o.k. but are there pink lemons to make pink lemonade?
Toolshed
08-26-2007, 09:24
If they were in the ground, There is a very high propensity that they were yellow jackets and not honeybees. YJ's are wasps and have no hair, honeybees are covered with fine hair.
YJ's may also sometimes build nests in trees or building eaves, wall voids and such, but leave it to their white counterparts BaldFace hornets to be the masters of those large hanging grey oval Nests. (Both are wasps and not hornets). Both families become fairly large as the summer season lengthens - Hence their aggression seems to increase.
The tough thing about both YJs and BFHs is that they can continue to sting as you run and jump around screaming and waving your arms (continuing to signal to them where you are :D ), though I believe the venom deposited drops with each successive sting. HB's can only sting once and then die.
The only Hornet that we have dealt with over the years is the European Hornet, but they offer more terror than sting. People would see them and call us in a panic.
I don't know about running in a zigzag trail, but what I used to do before killing a nest of HB's YJ's or BF Hornets, is light up a cigar and puff it quickly to create a nice cloud of smoke around my head and then put a towel around my head, draping over my shoulders, then climb the ladder and pump dust into the void (Usually using a 15-20 foot length of copper pipe to avoid getting to close to the hole).
I stepped on a YJ nest while throwing stuff on a brush pile when I was around 8 and started screaming and running. My dad came running out of the house and picked me up and threw me in our pond and then came in after me.
I still remember them hovering around the surface each time I came up for air (After I stopped panicking). I ended up at the hospital with something like 30-40 stings on me.:sun
Beekeeper here. I doubt your headline: "stung by bees". . If it's August, more than likely you were stung by yellow-jackets. Honey bees always get blamed. Wild honeybee hives are almost nonexistent these days.
A yellow-jacket can sting more than once. A bee stings you, it dies, the stinger is connected to its internal organs and rips the bee up as it exits.
Since you were way down south, I'll grant you a 1:1,000,000 chance they were Africanized bees, noting that honeybee nests in the wild are usually 50 feet off the ground.
You were stung by yellow jackets.
teachergal
08-26-2007, 11:14
I hope the hikers who got so many stings yesterday are doing better! It's miserable to get stung even once or twice, but 10 times really sucks.
Last Sunday I was hiking here in Northern Va at Bull Run Mountain - it's a small mountain just off 66 near Haymarket, VA. I was just walking along and suddenly out of the blue I got stung on the back of my left arm, just above the elbow!!!! After swatting away whatever had stung me and picking up my hiking pole that I'd dropped I continued on my way. Only to be stung again, this time on my right leg just above my sock. AGGHHHH!!!!! I'm not allergic to bees/stinging varmints so despite the pain I continued on my way - I had nothing to put on the stings anyway.
I got home about 2-3 hours after the sting and it was still very painful so I applied ice which helped. The day after they hurt like hell too so I tried Benadryl cream which did nothing, and more ice, which helped.
Monday evening I looked in the mirror at the sting site - it was bright red in the center, white on the edge and then had another ring of red around it - it was huge, prob 3-4 inches in diameter! And it was radiating heat from the reddest parts. The spot on my leg wasn't so bad, just red right where I'd been stung.
I ended up using some steriod cream I'd been given last year for a bad case of poison ivy and that settled things down, but man it was uncomfortable!
I suspect it was the same yellowjacket that got me both times - esp with the notion here that there is less venom each time you are stung by the same insect...hence the less reaction on my leg. Also, when I got back to my car and took off my boots (which I almost didn't do....) I found a yelllow jacket stuck to the outside of my boot - he looked like he had some goop coming out of his backside and couldn't fly off on his own. When I had the boot off I scraped him off with my car key and he flew away.
Honey bees don't usually nest in the ground although it is not unheard of. It is more likely, as was stated in other posts, that it was ground wasps or hornets, both of which have a nastier sting, in my opinion.
The easiest way to tell if it was a honey bee sting is look at the sting site. Honey bees are the only stinging insect with barbed stingers. When they sting you, there will be a stinger left in the skin and usually the entire back end of the bee:stinger, canal, and venom sack. That's why they die after stinging you; they are ripped apart. You must be careful when removing this so you don't push the remaining venom into your skin. Use a credit card, knife edge,etc and use a scraping motion away from the sting.
Since I work with bees, I am stung on a regular basis. I have had a mild reaction from bee stings such as a sting on the wrist swelling up to the elbow. Generally though, there is minimal swelling on thte sting site and itching for a couple of days afterwards. When I first started beekeeping, I got a perscription for two epi-pens, because I wasn't sure what might happen to me, getting stung multiple times. That was a number of years ago and I never used them. They aren't cheap and I wouldn't get them unless you know you have severe allergic reactions to insect stings. Benedryl pills will help with the itching, There are also home remedies out there. I have personally made a poultice of moistened tobacco and held it in place with a bandaid. It was very effective in alleviating the itch.
As far as being Africanised bees, that is only going to happen with honey bees who breed with certain honey bees from Africa and their sting is no different from a regular honey bees' sting, nor do they look any different from other honey bees. They are more persistant though and come after you in greater numbers, when they are upset. If you ran two hundred yards, they would still be after you. I have heard it said that if you jump in the water, they will hang around a lot longer than you can hold your breathe. All that being said, I know a beekeeper from Brazil who works Africanised bees, so they can be managed. And, I live in Texas, which has Africanised bees. Our hives don't turn Africanised overnight, but we may start to see our bees getting more aggressive. Eventually they can become fully Africanised. Most US beekeepers will get rid of their bees if they become too aggressive just because they are no fun to work with.
Like ImkerVS, I tend to think it more likely they were ground wasps. I still can't figure out why the good Lord made those darned things!
The Weasel
08-26-2007, 13:20
Most 'fun' I ever had with yellow jackets/ground hornets was the time, years back, that I drove my walk-behind lawn mower over a ground hive's hole (without knowing it) in early evening, after they had all swarmed home. The sucktion of the rotary mover pulled just about every dang one out of the nest - probably 500 - and they were NOT amused. I outran most of them after a half mile.
The Weasel
Speer Carrier
08-26-2007, 14:44
We have a major problem with yellow jackets here in Atlanta. Every year around the first of Sepetmeber they show up and are around until about May of the following year. Most of them can be found around North Avenue across the highway from The Varsity. The only way to keep them check is to administer a good dose of bull dog.
Tha Wookie
08-26-2007, 15:29
what's there to say?
not much. bees don't live in the ground.
on a side note, I had a hive swarm and leave last week. That sucks. they will probably all die. Honey's still good though.
Two weeks ago I was stung 7 times by yellow hornets on a trail outside of Atl. Three days ago I was stung by a yellow jacket when I went out on my deck. The EMT's and ER staff are my best friends as of lately, along with Epi pens and Benadryl. Take my word for it anaphylactic shock is no fun.
Lone Wolf
08-26-2007, 16:24
bees don't live in the ground.
yellow jackets MOSTLY nest in the ground
Tipi Walter
08-26-2007, 18:54
I took a couple cans of ginger ale on a backpacking trip and opened one at the end of a long day and a yellow jacket fell into it and he got into my mouth and stung me on the inner lower lip. Very painful. I spat him out and he crawled away and for some reason I felt sorry for him.
Another time outside Hot Springs by Lovers Leap I woke up at 3 in the morning in my tent with a bald faced hornet crawling thru my goat-tee and stinging me on the chin. Very painful.
yellow jackets MOSTLY nest in the ground
I tghink, with the reference to swarming and honey, that he was referring to Honey Bees:-?
briarpatch
08-26-2007, 20:05
I'm not an entomological expert. I'm just a hiker who ran into small yellow winged flying things with a nest in the ground that stung some fellow hikers.
I just wanted to let other folks know that this had happened so they could be more careful. For my purposes, it doesn't matter if they are bees, yellow jackets, wasps, ground hornets, or small yellow flying buzzing alien spaceship things that sting.
Soapbox on:
Why does this kind of posting immediately decay into a long winded discussion on the classification of insects and their habits? I put the word "bees" in the title because I don't really know or care about their scientific classification, just that they sting and people need to watch out for them. Almost all of the folks on the trail would be happy to just get a warning that there were stinging things nearby, without getting worked up about whether they were told "There are bees up ahead", instead of "There are Paravespula Vulgaris up ahead".
I'm a geologist by training, maybe I should have said that there were yellow jackets nesting in the ground near the trail alongside a linearally fractured schistose gneiss, but what difference would that have made? Of course, someone would have come back and challenged the fracture pattern in the rock or some similarly arcane fact. . . . . . . . (sigh)
Soapbox off:
:welcome
Lone Wolf
08-26-2007, 20:09
Actually, one of the group SLOWLY came back and sprayed them with industrial strength wasp killer. The only ID we had other than yellow jackets, was "dead yellow jackets".
this thread shoulda ended with your post.
shelterbuilder
08-26-2007, 20:10
Most times when I get stung on the trail, i'm using the gas-powered weed whacker and I'm moving slowly enough that I get stung 8 - 12 times before I can clear the area. I've heard that placing a copper penny on the sting site neutralizes the venom - any truth to this, or is it just another vicious internet rumor?
Kill yellow jackets.
Don't kill honey bees.
THey look a lot alike.
Like fool's gold and real gold.
Kill yellow jackets.
Don't kill honey bees.
THey look a lot alike.
Like fool's gold and real gold.
Don't kill any of the little things!!!!!!They are all beneficial in the scheme of things.
Bumble Bees live in the ground.
I tried to get some photos of the carpenter bees going in or out of the ground. They are fast little buggers. Maybe in the early am I'll get some shots when they might be comming out before they;ve had their early am coffee I'll get some photos of midwest yellow jackets/wasps. The photos show some yellowish blurr. Flite path was right to left returning and left to right outgoing. I cut the grass yesterday and noticed the activity but was too late to avoid covering the hole with clippings. After reading this thread, went out to take a look see if they had uncovered the entrance, they did and were very active. I kept a few hives of bees at one time, never got stung. Sucessfully hived a swarm once out of two attempts. Each time I was properly protected. The second attempt I was a little too anxious and angered them(no smoke). I was wearing lether gloves and a styrofoam helmet to support my bee veil. My gloves and helmet had quite a few stingers embedded in them. Last attempt at hiving swarms.:eek:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/bees012.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/bees007.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/bees006.jpg
Early morning they tend to be a little slower. At first, I thought they were carpenter bee. I changed my mind this AM. They look like a small wasp.
Bahh Humbug.............. Why are these photos not turning out to be clickable thumbnails???????????????????????????????????????? ??
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20one/th_bees020.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20one/bees020.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20one/th_bees041.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20one/bees041.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20one/th_bees055.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20one/bees055.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20one/th_bees069.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20one/bees069.jpg)
That kinda looks like a mud wasp nest.
leeki pole
08-27-2007, 11:33
Here's a cure. Import fire ants. We have very few yellow jackets any more down here. Used to be, hitting a nest of jackets with a bush hog was an interesting adventure.:cool: I think the fire ants wiped 'em out. Pick your poison, but fire ants don't chase you, at least. Just them pesky mounds.
Toolshed
08-27-2007, 12:26
Don't kill any of the little things!!!!!!They are all beneficial in the scheme of things.
Bumble Bees and Carpenter bees live in the ground.
I tried to get some photos of the carpenter bees going in or out of the ground. They are fast little buggers. Maybe in the early am I'll get some shots when they might be comming out before they;ve had their early am coffee I'll get some photos of midwest yellow jackets/wasps. The photos show some yellowish blurr. Flite path was right to left returning and left to right outgoing. I cut the grass yesterday and noticed the activity but was too late to avoid covering the hole with clippings. After reading this thread, went out to take a look see if they had uncovered the entrance, they did and were very active. I kept a few hives of bees at one time, never got stung. Sucessfully hived a swarm once out of two attempts. Each time I was properly protected. The second attempt I was a little too anxious and angered them(no smoke). I was wearing lether gloves and a styrofoam helmet to support my bee veil. My gloves and helmet had quite a few stingers embedded in them. Last attempt at hiving swarms.:eek:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/bees012.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/bees007.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/bees006.jpg
Out of all the Carpenter bee Jobs I have ever done, they nested in wood. Drill a 3/8 inch to 1/2 inch hole straight in and then turn sharp right and go back about 2-3 inches. carburyl (Sevin) will kill them.
Toolshed
08-27-2007, 12:41
I'm not an entomological expert. I'm just a hiker who ran into small yellow winged flying things with a nest in the ground that stung some fellow hikers.
I just wanted to let other folks know that this had happened so they could be more careful. For my purposes, it doesn't matter if they are bees, yellow jackets, wasps, ground hornets, or small yellow flying buzzing alien spaceship things that sting.
Soapbox on:
Why does this kind of posting immediately decay into a long winded discussion on the classification of insects and their habits? I put the word "bees" in the title because I don't really know or care about their scientific classification, just that they sting and people need to watch out for them. Almost all of the folks on the trail would be happy to just get a warning that there were stinging things nearby, without getting worked up about whether they were told "There are bees up ahead", instead of "There are Paravespula Vulgaris up ahead".
I'm a geologist by training, maybe I should have said that there were yellow jackets nesting in the ground near the trail alongside a linearally fractured schistose gneiss, but what difference would that have made? Of course, someone would have come back and challenged the fracture pattern in the rock or some similarly arcane fact. . . . . . . . (sigh)
Soapbox off:
:welcome
Well you have referred to them as both Bees and Yellowjackets several times. And they are different from each other.
It's like saying you saw Lone Wolf driving his honda motorcycle several times :D
And it is quite probably if someone talked about the sedimentary formation of the grenville rocks they see mixed along with the basalt formed pocono sandstone along the trail, you might step up and correctly identify these rocks and the processes. ;)
We had walked into a cluster of 3 yellow jacket nests that a bear had recently dug into. The bees were pretty agitated and chased this group for a hundred yards or more down the trail with multiple stings (10 or more) per person. Only one of the three of us in the back got stung, but they were hit 3 times.
Be careful out there!
Is this what the yellow jackets/ nest (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20one/bees069.jpg?t=1188237435)looked like?
I was wrong about the carpenter bees living in the ground. Deleted original statement. It was urban/trail legend.
DSoTM made me do some thinking about the Carpenter bees so I googled and became informed, thanks DSoTM!!!!!!
.
Or did the nest look like this one? (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20one/bees077.jpg)
Briarpatch, quick question off topic for you.
Further down the trail I came upon this formation (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/IMcanal085.jpg)...........another view (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/IMcanal061.jpg)
The second photo was Sandstone. What is the first? The first photo was taken about 100 feet from the second. Photos were taken in Illinois.
leeki pole
08-27-2007, 16:12
Or did the nest look like this one? (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20one/bees077.jpg)
Briarpatch, quick question off topic for you.
Further down the trail I came upon this formation (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/IMcanal085.jpg)...........another view (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/IMcanal061.jpg)
The second photo was Sandstone. What is the first? The first photo was taken about 100 feet from the second. Photos were taken in Illinois.
Nah, that's a hornet nest. Yellow jackets live in the ground.
leeki pole
08-27-2007, 16:14
Is this what the yellow jackets/ nest (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20one/bees069.jpg?t=1188237435)looked like?
I was wrong about the carpenter bees living in the ground. Deleted original statement. It was urban/trail legend.
DSoTM made me do some thinking about the Carpenter bees so I googled and became informed, thanks DSoTM!!!!!!
.
Those look like guinea wasps to me. Course, I've been bitten by pretty much all of them.:rolleyes:
I always thought yellow jackets were hornets, which are a type of wasp that live in the ground.
leeki pole
08-27-2007, 16:51
I always thought yellow jackets were hornets, which are a type of wasp that live in the ground.
Down here, hornets build those big nests (paper mache) in trees and such. Yellow jackets live in the ground.
Are these yellow jackets? Are they wasps with yellow stripes/jackets?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20one/bees041.jpg
I was within 8 inches of the little fellows and they didn't seem to mind that I was doing a photo session.
leeki pole
08-27-2007, 17:15
Are these yellow jackets?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20one/bees041.jpg
I would say yes. Don't hit 'em with a lawn mower.;)
Toolshed
08-27-2007, 17:30
Are these yellow jackets? Are they wasps with yellow stripes/jackets?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20one/bees041.jpg
I was within 8 inches of the little fellows and they didn't seem to mind that I was doing a photo session.
Yes those are yellowjackets. At the risk of annoying briarpatch (they're just silly rocks ;) )
Baldfaced Hornets are larger and are black and white - They make those huge paper machete like hanging nests with all those gorgeous sworl patterns on them. These are the nests that little kids (and grown men) tend to get in trouble with when they throw rocks at them.
There are a number of species of Yellowjackets, When I lived in NY and worked in the industry, there were ground dwelling YJ's and then there were hanging paper nest YJ's (eaves, attics, foundations an the like - I sued to be able to identify them. I think they were called the English or Eastern and the German species, but it has been too many years for me. What I do know is that they all act the same when they meet Sevin, Ficam, Dursban, Cynogas, or Cypermethrin - Dead!!! :D
The sucktion of the rotary mover pulled just about every dang one out of the nest - probably 500 - and they were NOT amused. I outran most of them after a half mile.
The WeaselDid you zig-zag for a half mile, or just sprint?:-? Shoulda put the mower back over the hole first, you coulda killed all 500 with one blow.;)
Those look like guinea wasps to me. Course, I've been bitten by pretty much all of them.:rolleyes:
Not to split hairs too finely, but don't you mean stung?;)
leeki pole
08-27-2007, 17:54
Not to split hairs too finely, but don't you mean stung?;)
Heh, yeah you're right. Guess it's a Mississippi thing. "I done got bit!"
(Expletive deleted). ;)
briarpatch
08-30-2007, 09:45
Looks like a limestone to me. It can be hard to tell from a photo, sometimes. Keep in mind that I'm trained as a geologist but have been working as a computer jockey for a long time now, I get to sleep in the woods for fun, instead of for a living.
Or did the nest look like this one? (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20one/bees077.jpg)
Briarpatch, quick question off topic for you.
Further down the trail I came upon this formation (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/IMcanal085.jpg)...........another view (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/IMcanal061.jpg)
The second photo was Sandstone. What is the first? The first photo was taken about 100 feet from the second. Photos were taken in Illinois.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC1Thnq6eMk
Looks like a limestone to me. It can be hard to tell from a photo, sometimes. Keep in mind that I'm trained as a geologist but have been working as a computer jockey for a long time now, I get to sleep in the woods for fun, instead of for a living.
Very good my friend. Many years ago it was mined within 10 feet of where the photo was taken. About 100 feet away are the remains of large kilns that were used to heat the limestone which was then crushed and used to manufacture portland cement. The cement was used in the construction of the Illinois Michigan Canal. The canal was used to transport goods by barges/boats powered by mule teams walking along a path that paralelled the canal. The canal is 20 feet behind me when I took the photo. The path was turned into a State Park Trail. I'll be back later and post a photo of the mine entrance. The photo that includes the railroad tracks shows an outcropping of Sandstone, they say it's almost pure quartz. It is mined in the county and used in the glass making industry. The area has a remnant population of timber rattle snakes, not common to this area of IL.
Nearly Normal
08-30-2007, 12:19
Not to split hairs too finely, but don't you mean stung?;)
Yellow jackets will both sting repeatedly and bite. Having to comb them out of a dog's hair once will give you plenty of proof.
Nearly Normal
Tipi Walter
08-30-2007, 16:51
For a backpacker(and not so much a landscaper), yellow jackets tend to swarm and sting due to hiking vibrations. And when they build in the dirt next to a trail it doesn't take much boot action to get them going. Yellow jackets also have a wonderful habit of gripping onto the skin while stinging and this is real noticeable when one of them gets hold of a finger. Finger bites are rough as are stings around the eyes and on the nose.
For a backpacker(and not so much a landscaper), yellow jackets tend to swarm and sting due to hiking vibrations. And when they build in the dirt next to a trail it doesn't take much boot action to get them going. Yellow jackets also have a wonderful habit of gripping onto the skin while stinging and this is real noticeable when one of them gets hold of a finger. Finger bites are rough as are stings around the eyes and on the nose.That is the truth. Funny thing is that they will pay someone no attention at all if they are not in swarm mode. I have stood right outside a very active nest and watched them travel in and out. Very busy critters.:)