[Elecraft] Bumblebees -- actual mondo-sized bees, not just the RF variety

[Wes Stewart]

In Southern Arizona the honey bees are mostly Africanized (i.e. "killer bees")  
They have killed people and animals up to horse sized.  I have a little water 
feature in the back yard, that unfortunately has goldfish in it.  My late wife's 
idea, so I don't want to kill them.  Hence I get a lot of algae because I can't 
chemically treat it. I also get a lot of bees that come in for the water.  
Generally, we coexist, but a couple of years ago on a Sunday afternoon I was 
clearing some algae and one of the little SOBs stung me on the palm.  I didn't 
think too much of it until my hand swelled up to double size and I developed a 
rash in some very sensitive areas.

I didn't want to go to an ER but I did find a Walgreens with a nurse 
practitioner. She gave me a steroid injection and a prescription for EpiPens.  
These cost Medicare about $600, thanks taxpayers.

A few months ago I had a repeat, but got the stinger removed very quickly.  This 
time I couldn't find handy medical attention so I sat around EpiPens at the 
ready, but I never had a serious reaction.  Still I shudder to contemplate being 
stung hundreds of times.

Wes  N7WS


On 7/30/2018 5:54 PM, Dave Sublette wrote:
> We were putting up a 2 element Moxon for 40M this week and I ran over a
> Bumblebee nest.  Two of them got me before I bailed out and left the
> tractor running (in neutral).
>
> Oh the joys of country living  :-)
>
> 73,
>
> Dave, K4TO
>
> On Mon, Jul 30, 2018 at 7:54 PM Wayne Burdick <n6kr at elecraft.com> wrote:
>
>> I operated pedestrian mobile in Sunday’s /BB QRP event, using a KX2 with a
>> prototype AX1 4’ whip (15/17/20 m) and a dragged 13’ counterpoise.
>>
>> The whip was attached directly to the back of my Patagonia Atom 8L sling
>> bag, which turns out to have rugged, stretchy loops in exactly the right
>> places, holding the antenna perfectly upright with no additional mounting
>> hardware. The antenna is exactly the right length for this when the
>> telescoping part and base are secured together.
>>
>> For control purposes, I just held the rig in my hand, with nothing but a
>> coax cable running back to the pack. The rig weighs only one pound with
>> batteries, so this turns out to work much better than putting the rig in
>> the pack and trying to control everything with fancy firmware (something I
>> reported on earlier).
>>
>> Later I operated a bit of /PM SSB, using the rig’s built-in mic and XMIT
>> switch as PTT. The KX2 fits easily in one hand, so you might think of it as
>> a mic on steroids, one that happens to have and all-band/all-mode radio
>> built in :)  I think I’ve finally found the magic elixir -- pure HF Pack
>> Light. The sling pack gives this lash-up a bit of Errol Flynn cache.
>>
>> As for operating, this was no walk in the park!
>>
>> During one memorable QSO I was sending fast CW with the built-in keyer
>> paddle while climbing a narrow 45-degree trail, praying my shoes had enough
>> tread to grip the loose soil. The operator at the other end put up with a
>> bit of dodgy sending as the trail’s slope hit a local maxima.
>>
>> Arriving at the top of the bluff, I found myself in a maze of imposing
>> weeds sculpted by some evil California parks department employee. The
>> plants were Vulcan in appearance, 7 to 8 feet tall, and simply irresistible
>> to the local oversize bees. Dozens of them. I was ducking left and right to
>> avoid the real bees while finishing my QSO with the contest “bee." About
>> halfway through the maze, tuning the VFO knob with the thumb of my
>> rig-holding hand, I found another /BB station to call. I’m guessing I now
>> hold the all-San-Mateo-County record for in-maze pedestrian mobile CW
>> contacts.
>>
>> Overall, the experience was somewhere between Little Shop of Horrors and
>> The Shining. But I didn’t get sunburned, stung, or ejected for public
>> nerdiness.
>>
>> It doesn’t get much better than this.
>>
>> Wayne
>> N6KR
>>