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This morning I very kindly assisted a Red Tailed Bumblebee which was wandering about on my lawn just as I was about to mow it. I scooped it up and put it onto a large Phlox plant in a border. Some hours later I was trimming the edges of the lawn, working 'semi blind' under a shrub when a Red Tailed Bumblebee .. quite possible the same one, decided to sting me on my thumb. The ungrateful little B!! Anyway, I've just checked. They have an unbarbed sting which doesn't stay behind. Tiny initial sensation which rapidly got very painful for a few minutes and 20 minutes or so later is fading without any treatment. I spared the little B... but it is on its final warning. Much less hassle than a Cleg bite.

Not sure what I'd do about yellowjackets.  I firebombed the only wasps nest we ever had in the garden.  They were getting far too cocky.

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Just got back from QMC again........the last eight days have been a bit Traumatic to say the least,,...blood tests,,X-rays,,and today a visit to a Consultant........cut a long story short......problem

Result........CT Scans all clear......just got letter..been sweating for a fortnight......

Two years ago today..........my life changed forever,,,about this time i was on my way down to the operating theatre for what turned out to be a ten hour operation...........its been life changing in

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A few weeks ago i decided to count the ey-ups'' between Tesco car park and Wetherspoons,,admit it was a market day,,but got 9.........lol

 

Edit........ex school mates ,ex football mates,,ex work mates,,plus people i only know to say ey-up to,,and invariably some want to stop for a conversation,,Donna just keeps walking and gets the coffee's in........bless her,,she's a Southerner you know......

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1 hour ago, MargieH said:

But aren't they all God's creatures, Loppy?

 

Yes, they are, Margie.  That said, this is not a fight I want.  I would much rather live and let live, but Mrs L is God's creature too.  So are my dogs and I'm not just going to let them get stung for no reason other than they were nearbye.  These creatures are aggressive and their sting is painful. If they attack in force as a group they could potentially kill you, especially if you are allergic to their sting, so what can you do?   Ticks are God's creatures too, but I'm not letting them suck my blood if I can help it.

 

I suppose really the bottom line of all this is the 'fall'. All creation is affected.  Presumably in the beginning all these critters had a useful purpose in creation.    Better not go there this is getting theological.  :biggrin:

 

They declared war on me!

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I declared war on all hornets after I got stung multiple times in my left wrist, I couldn't use my left hand for over two weeks it was so swollen. I used the most painful killing methods I can devise at the time and place of "execution". Like a pair of scissors to cut their wings off when the get indoors, then cut them in half. Outdoors it's powerful insecticides.

 

A hornets sting is the most painful insect sting I've ever encountered, imagine heating a needle to red heat, then sticking it in your arm, hand or leg, then dragging it across the top of the entry wound. That's the best way I can describe a hornet sting. The pain is excruciating for about 15-20 seconds.

Then it starts turning red and swells, and after a short time it itches like hell for days.

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36 minutes ago, benjamin1945 said:

A few weeks ago i decided to count the ey-ups'' between Tesco car park and Wetherspoons,,admit it was a market day,,but got 9.........lol

 

Edit........ex school mates ,ex football mates,,ex work mates,,plus people i only know to say ey-up to,,and invariably some want to stop for a conversation,,Donna just keeps walking and gets the coffee's in........bless her,,she's a Southerner you know......

 

That's a good way of gerrin out payin, must remember that one mesen Ben !

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Perhaps some of you will remember seeing my post in one of the garden topics, showing our apple tree - full of fruit -  with the trunk leaning over at an angle?  Well, it leaned over beyond the point of no return and fell down about an hour ago!  I will no longer be moaning in the autumn about having to prepare and freeze so many apples!  I feel sad as well though...  the apples are about 3"- 4" in diameter so we may put bags out at our gate tomorrow with a notice asking people to please take some home for free! There are hundreds and hundreds of them.

I managed to get some photos just after it happened...

IMG_4406.jpgIMG_4410.jpg

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41 minutes ago, loppylugs said:

 

Yes, they are, Margie.  That said, this is not a fight I want.  I would much rather live and let live, but Mrs L is God's creature too.  So are my dogs and I'm not just going to let them get stung for no reason other than they were nearbye.  These creatures are aggressive and their sting is painful. If they attack in force as a group they could potentially kill you, especially if you are allergic to their sting, so what can you do?   Ticks are God's creatures too, but I'm not letting them suck my blood if I can help it.

 

I suppose really the bottom line of all this is the 'fall'. All creation is affected.  Presumably in the beginning all these critters had a useful purpose in creation.    Better not go there this is getting theological.  :biggrin:

 

They declared war on me!

You could try zapping em Dave, no problem to you or Ayup !

 

 

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What a shame Margie, I feel your pain.  Maybe it couldn’t cope with the weight of fruit it was carrying?  Wish some of the street trees in Mapperley Park would fall down though, it’d be nice to get some of this sunshine. 

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Lizzie,  I think it was because of the weight of fruit but also the drought must have weakened it....

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Sorry about your tree, Margie.  That is a disappointment.

 

Mick.  I've got one of those bug zappers.  I take it outside with me when I go out with the dogs.  It gives a very satisfying crack when you hit one with it, even those little gnats you can hardly see.  I'm sure it would nail the YJs too.  I just don't like getting near them.  A stealth attack seems to be the best policy. :biggrin:.  I don't set fire to the gas.  Just pouring it down the hole in the dark seems to do the trick.

 

Edited to add:. That zapper really nailed 'em.  That video gives you a good idea of how many of them there can be and if they come out mad they are gonna lay a licking on you.  So I'd be careful even with the zapper.  Those zappers are really heavy on batteries too as he said.  I just use rechargeables in a solar charger.  Works great.

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Yellow jackets are a farmers worst nightmare this side of the pond, they nest below ground, so when we pass over the entrance with a tractor with implement, they emerge by the thousands. I carry a can of wasp killer in my tractors toolbox.

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Looks like one of my agave plants will flower this year. This is both good and bad news. First, it is rare for them to flower here (being native to Mexico and not called century plants for nothing) but when they do flower the show they put on is quite spectacular - the flower grows on a spike which can easily reach six metres in height (the plant is about 2 metres tall and wide). The bad news is that they die after flowering and a new agave plant ain't cheap. Also, they are reputed to stink really disgustingly when dead and rotting so I will have to arrange disposal of the remains -which is not easy as they are covered with loads of very sharp spines which do not rot.

 

Oh well, c'est la vie (as they say in France).

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Well I did my dirty deed.  :biggrin:. I haven't been out there yet this morning.  I'm still carefull there could be more, we shall see.

 

I don't know how it is in the UK, but has anyone noticed a severe lack of flying insects of most kinds?  The front of my car used to get covered with them.  I used to have to wash them out of the radiator.  I haven't had to do that in the last couple of years. I have one of those bug lights in the yard.  Great for Mosquitos.  It attracts them with a bluish light and zaps them.  I used to have to use a blower to clean them out each morning.  Now there are hardly any.  I know it's working because there are one or two just nothing like it used to be.

 

Some scientist said recently that's a bad sign for us.  What is killing them?  Thoughts anybody?

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Probably right on both counts, Mick.

 

I read recently that the radio frequencies from mobile phones could be upsetting their navigation abilities, especially bees.  They can't find their way back to the hive.  I don't know if there is anything to that but it makes sense to me anyway.

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Plenty of flying bugs this way Dave, those pesky but harmless carpenter bees are always hovering around, seen several species of bees around here including the large honey bees, and I know nobody around here keeps them, so there must be a "honey tree" near by. Dragon flies by the hundreds, and step outside here, day or night and get eaten alive by mozzies. But then I'm in cattle country, very few crops grown around here, other than for hay making.

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Think you right catfan about Bulwell,, no one praises and loves it more than me and i think you,, but there is the other side to it.......today there were 4 women dressed in their Dressing gowns gabbing away outside Tesco with kids in tow,,it would be funny if it was'nt so sad,,  Also in Wethers a regular early drinker who ive never liked was being abusive to a young Barmaid because he thought someone had been served afore him..he needs Barring but no one said a word,,..........Also got threatened myself couple of weeks ago by an idiot on a Motor bike,,told him ''Go-away'' or summat similar.....lol.           However these idiots are far out numbered by good pleasant happy EY-UPERS,,

                        like my shaky lady friend who yesterday ailed me with ey-up Ben its me birthday today give us a kiss, to a round of applause from her friends,,naturally i obliged.......Bulwell Forever.........

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What was it ? Derby, Remain, or a rude one.

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Nuff said !

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We've spent much of the day picking and bagging hundreds of small apples about 3" in diameter.  Advertised them on our village Facebook page and have had lots of replies.  One man came round to have some of the apple branches cos he whittles spoons and had never tried apple wood before.  His wife had some of the apples as well to make mint and apple jelly.  Another lady who has an animal farm down the road took 3 sackfuls of apples to feed to her horses, pigs, alpacas, goats and chickens.  About 5 more  bags went to people who wanted them for making juice and/or purée and another lady is coming tomorrow to get sticks of apple wood for her rabbits to gnaw on!

We've done about a third of the tree now but I think we may leave it a bit now and see if there's enough root left in the ground to keep the tree alive for a couple more months to let the remaining apples get bigger .  I've given it 4 buckets of butt rainwater/washing up water today and will continue with that... I listened with my ear on the trunk afterwards and I'm sure I heard water being sucked up..... I don't think I'm going crazy!!

 

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