The Lounge 2

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Richie said:
Terry did you survey the Birdsville and Strzelecki Tracks?
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No, I never did any Surveying outside of WA which I did from top to bottom. The biggest state in the world.

I see our King Charles and Queen Camilla are visiting your city of Sydney.
Will you wave a flag? 🇬🇧🤪🇬🇧😂🇬🇧

I went for a 50km motorbike ride yesterday. Heading home down a winding semi rural road with light traffic I got a sudden stinging pain on the left side of my neck, where the jugular vein is.
I couldn't stop for 5 min until I found a layby to pull over. The pain was getting worse. Checking my neck I saw the issue, it was a Bee sting with its poison sack pumped dry. Having worked as a Bee keeper's assistant 50 years ago I flicked our the barb and empty poison sack with a finger nail. I was at least relieved to know what it was, despite the pain, swelling and redness. A day later it's still swollen, red and a little painful.
Creams and an antihistamine help, I hope.
 
Bloody Hell! Terry, a bee stinging you biking at a speed of, how fast may you have been going, 40-50 mph! That's really rare and bad luck. It shows that bees can be aggressive and be after you even if you're difficult to get as a biker. Hope it'll heal completely soon, Terry.
 
looker-on said:
Bloody Hell! Terry, a bee stinging you biking at a speed of, how fast may you have been going, 40-50 mph! That's really rare and bad luck. It shows that bees can be aggressive and be after you even if you're difficult to get as a biker. Hope it'll heal completely soon, Terry.
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I'm almost over it now thanks Thomas.
I was only doing 70 to 80 klm/h I estimate.
Typical speed limits for areas near me.
Even some 100klm/h Freeways.

Fifty years since my last Bee sting and I could take ten a day in those days, flicking the stiing out asap. That was the trick requiring a finger nail. Gloves were available but too cumbersome, like on my bike.
I hauled honey hive plates and spun them out on a whirly machine into a drum of nectar, and in the midst of the giant Karri and Malli forests of SW of WA.

Ironically, this Bee event was indeed an anomaly for me. Native Aussie Bees have fed on my flowering garden bushes for decades and I've never been stung by one, even when pruning the bushes like just yesterday.
That poor Bee and me were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. "Whapph!"

Seriously, I do worry about the decline of many species of insects. Many like our noble Bees seem afflicted by the works of Humankind.
Even the deep oceans are gasping as the sea levels rise...
 
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Grier said:
I hauled honey hive plates and spun them out on a whirly machine into a drum of nectar, and in the midst of the giant Karri and Malli forests of SW of WA. Bees.
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Boy you have done some interesting jobs over the years Terry. I envy you as I had a dull working life.
Bees are amazing creatures and those we have to live with as minus bees in nature almost about 2/3rd of all edible agricultural products would not exist without them pollinating the blossom first.
 
Richie said:
Boy you have done some interesting jobs over the years Terry. I envy you as I had a dull working life.
Bees are amazing creatures and those we have to live with as minus bees in nature almost about 2/3rd of all edible agricultural products would not exist without them pollinating the blossom first.
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Too right Craig. Bees are my favourite insect.

When harvesting honey from the hives in the SW forests I would wash in the streams that had heaps of Marron to catch and cook. A fresh water type of small lobster that tasted of mud. I never liked them, similar in taste to your Morton bay bugs. 🤮
Those forest streams were also home to many leeches that got attached to me.
 
looker-on said:
Bloody Hell! Terry, a bee stinging you biking at a speed of, how fast may you have been going, 40-50 mph! That's really rare and bad luck. It shows that bees can be aggressive and be after you even if you're difficult to get as a biker. Hope it'll heal completely soon, Terry.
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It was poor luck Thomas, for me and the Bee. The swollen lump on my neck is slowly receding and healing.
When working with Bees I could take up to a dozen stings a day by flicking out the stingers quickly, and only once had a reaction where my right hand swelled up to almost double its volume which gave me a day off work.
Certain parts of our body are more sensitive to stings like the tips of fingers, lips, your tongue, face and one's nether regions. My boss once got stung on his tongue while eating a honey sandwich and driving the truck full of hives. Poor fellow, it really hurt.
 
Grier said:
When harvesting honey from the hives in the SW forests I would wash in the streams that had heaps of Marron to catch and cook. A fresh water type of small lobster that tasted of mud. I never liked them, similar in taste to your Morton bay bugs. 🤮
Those forest streams were also home to many leeches that got attached to me.
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A good story for the Memory Lane thread Terry. We seem to be neglecting that.
 
Jessica 🤗 said:
Not my king or queen either. I wish them no harm but I'm all for abolishing the monarchy.
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You guys will probably abolish it before us as the British royal family has almost been force fed to Australians by pro monachist newspaper publishers for decades. Tho have to say that there is less so far on this trip. Charlie attended a secondary school here for a time. Timbertop I seem to recall was its name and it was set in a rural part of my state or was it another. Charlie said his time at Timbertop in 1966 was "by far the best part" of his education.
 
Richie said:
How far from Perth Terry?
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About 400km Craig.
In our heavily forested region in the deep south west of WA where giant trees grow. Karri, Mali, Tingle, .. A beautiful area with many caves, rugged coastlines, giant forests ... My youngest was born in Albany near the valley of the giants (trees) with canopy top walk ways. In winter it never seems to stop raining, is cold and miserable. Big storms and waves come from the Antartic crashing over the small granite islands just offshore... A sight to see.
 
looker-on said:
Really? Just one day?😲
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Just one day Thomas. I was young, very fit and already quite enured to Bee stings by then. The swelling went down by the next day and I felt fine. Back to work was fine by me. We had targets.

I was sad to leave that job but I'd been offered a place at Curtin Uni to study engineering. Civil and Surveying.
I remember my old Bee Keeper boss showing me a Queen Bee he'd paid about $200 for. Fascinating. Another possible life.
 
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