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Offline doak

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heat
« on: August 18, 2007, 06:20:44 pm »
Just to let every one know, I am doing 100% nothing right now except keeping water to my bees and checking the weight of the hives. Thats all I can do in this 100 + temps.
I had a heat exaustion  spell in 87 and they say once you have it it is easy for it to return.
doak

PS,  love you too  Cindi.

Offline TwT

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Re: heat
« Reply #1 on: August 18, 2007, 10:06:27 pm »
doak, its hard getting up in geezer status ha, ask buzzbee  :-D ;) , he has been there for years now  :-D :-D :evil:
THAT's ME TO THE LEFT JUST 5 MONTHS FROM NOW!!!!!!!!

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Offline doak

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Re: heat
« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2007, 12:09:27 am »
When I was half the age I am now I was hell on wheels, That was 32&1/2 yrs ago. :roll:
doak

Offline Cindi

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Re: heat
« Reply #3 on: August 19, 2007, 12:45:47 pm »
Doak, I know what you mean about heat exhaustion.  YOu must be very careful, at any age.

I am used to working outside almost all year around.  I consider myself a very strong woman, very short, but I can pack a whollop  :)  I am 54 years old (55 in another month or so).  I work in the hot, hot sun, the cold, cold, rain, no sun and have extreme stamina.  But I have an experience that I would like to relate.  This relates to what I would term as heat exhaustion.

A few weeks ago we had some very, very hot weather for our area, the temperature was around 30 celsius.  I had to do some extreme work with all the colonies, checking from top to bottom.  I now have 9, as I had to combine two hives.  I began at 9:30 A.M., hot already.  I worked my way through the colonies, taking my time, drinking lots of water, I was getting down to the last hive and I was feeling very, very weak.  Nope, my nature to get the job done was surfacing.  I had to get this last colony examined and finished, there was no ifs, ands, or buts, this is what I had to do.  I can be rather stubborn.

I finished the colony.  Got out of there as fast as I could and took my water to drink under the beech tree by our pool.  I was not feeling very good.  I kept drinking the water, slowly -- that is important.  About one half hour later I was feeling much better, but this experience honestly made me feel very, very sick.  I think that I may have been on the brink of heat exhastion.  I have never actually experienced this condition, but I think it is a very bad one.  This beech tree helped me to heal.  It provides very very deep shade and I don't know why either, but extreme relief from heat.  Even on the hottest day when one sits under this tree, the air is cool, strange thing, but I thank my lucky stars we have this beech tree.

Right, this beech tree actually has some beechnuts on it this year.  I have never seen a beechnut on it previously, we have lived here 17 hears, so I am pretty excited.  I googled beechnut and I got the impression sometimes beechnut trees produce nuts, not always.  So I am a lucky woman.  I am going to pick them soon, roast them in the dehydrator and then attempt to get out the tiny little seeds that are within.

Be careful in those hot places where so many forum members live.  My heat in this area cannot even begin to compare to the temperatures in the other parts of the world, we are very temperate.  Even today it is raining, after some warm weather.  Last year we were 3 months without significant rain, the lawn was brown.  THis year I am still mowing my lawn that takes about 2 hours, weekly and yes, it is green.  Go figure the weather this year!!!!  Have a wonderful day, careful with the sun's heat, great life.  Cindi
There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold.  The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold.  The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee.  Robert Service

Offline doak

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Re: heat
« Reply #4 on: August 19, 2007, 03:44:20 pm »
Cindi, you are verry lucky. You were right on the edge of going too far.
I now have only 7 hives and the last time I checked I didn't have to go too far but it still took about an hour. When I got through there wasn't a dry thread on me.
I have a window fan under the Magnolua tree and got to it as soon as I could.
Take care, all
doak

Offline JP

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Re: heat
« Reply #5 on: August 19, 2007, 05:11:22 pm »
I remember a time in my twenties when in the middle of the summer I was walking the banks of what is called the Bonne Carre spillway, in Laplace, Louisiana. I was bowfishing and I was wearing hipboots. I had plenty of fluids with me but the heat was intense. I found myself at one point all of a sudden on the brink of exhaustion, approx. a quarter mile from my truck. I will never forget how I almost crawled back to that truck. When I did make it back by the hair of my chinny chin chin, I started the motor and cranked on the airconditioner, and drank all the remaining fluids I had left. I sat in that spot for well over a half hour, not being able to move. Finally rejuvenated, I left, to never go back, for a straight month, used to be pretty avid about my bowfishing. I was younger then and in better shape. The hipboots I think were a factor as well, being all rubber, they absorbed heat.

For the last week and a half its been hell on earth here. I 've been doing my removals early in the morning and begging people to wait until it cools off some, perhaps in September. Be careful out there, that sun is hot, sher!!
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Offline Cindi

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Re: heat
« Reply #6 on: August 20, 2007, 02:29:08 am »
JP, I read all the posts very intricately, and I still cannot understand how it is possible in the extreme heat that I know goes on in so many parts of the country, how people can perform the work that they do with bees.  What I am really speaking of is the swarm removals an captures.  The stories from forum members that I read astound me.  I know how hot it is working with my bees on what I call "hot" summer days.  The heat that others go out in and work in are beyond what I can actually comprehend.  I take my hat off to you all.

Doak, yes, I know that my limits were pushed that day.  I realize that I should have taken a break and maybe only taken care of half one day and half the next day.  The life lessons that we learn.  I hope that I listen and learn to all of mine....but then..... :)

Have this wonderful life, live our life and love what you're doin'.  Cindi
There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold.  The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold.  The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee.  Robert Service

Offline Brian D. Bray

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Re: heat
« Reply #7 on: August 22, 2007, 12:59:37 am »
I've experienced heat exhaustion several times.  All while I was in the Army.  I passed out from heat exhaustion while training at Fort Gordon, Ga.  Being from the Pacific Northwest I was not use to 100+ temps and such high humidity.  All of a sudden I would feel dizzy, upchuck, and keel over.  Then in January 1971 I went from Chitose, Japan (-36) to Bangkok, Thailand (102+) in one day.  I was hit with heat exhaustion the moment I stepped out of the airplane.  took me a week to recover then I was hit with Mono and spent another 2 weeks on my butt.

I now suffer from Menier's disease, between that and my experience with heat exhaustion I quit working the moment I start feeling even a little dizzy.
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Offline Zoot

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Re: heat
« Reply #8 on: August 22, 2007, 01:21:42 am »
While working bees fully suited up  with temps in the 90's or higher is an experience not soon forgotten I have had the pleasure this summer of reaching even more hideous extremes: my dear mate read the riot act to me about finishing our house so I spent the hottest 3 weeks of July and early August 35 feet up on a scaffold carving the last of the details on our gables - temps in the apex area where I worked reached 110 f. on several days. It's amazing what the human body can acclimate to with the right motivation.

Offline JP

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Re: heat
« Reply #9 on: August 22, 2007, 01:47:33 am »
I've discovered that I do ok up to 92-94 degrees farenheit. After that it gets unbearable, and I need minnie breaks in my truck's ac. My last 10 or so hives I've dealt with have been quite docile, and I've gotten by with veil most times, sometimes veil and jacket. If I have to fully suit up, because of aggressive bees, the heat in that thing is just too unbearable this time of yr and either I will wait until things cool a bit or will do the job early, early, with lots of ac breaks in between. I understand the concept of finishing and getting out of there, but there's no sense in pushing yourself beyond reasonable limits.
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Offline wtiger

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Re: heat
« Reply #10 on: August 22, 2007, 02:32:05 am »
I've often found that frequent trips to the a/c do more harm than good in really hot weather.  Something to do with the drastic temperature changes.  The most important thing is to stay well hydrated and if it's really getting to you run some cool water over the back of your neck for a quick emergency cool down.  I've gotten quite sick from using a/c as a refuge during really hot weather.

Offline mgmoore7

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Re: heat
« Reply #11 on: August 22, 2007, 09:40:08 am »
I have never had a full episode of heat exhuastion or as it is calling in the south (the bear jumping on your back) but I have been very close several times.  In FL we deal with this more months out of the year than other states although the high temperture here is not usually as high as some states in the north since we get more wind with the gulf and ocean on both sides.   

Anyway, I manage it by controlling my pace and taking many short breaks and forcing myself to drink.  One way to tell if you are not drinking enough is if you don't have to go to bathroom for a pee.  If you do, then you know your body is getting enough.  Only water and you can add something like gatorade here and there.  Other drinks such as soda do more harm than good. 

Offline BMAC

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Re: heat
« Reply #12 on: August 22, 2007, 10:52:12 am »
You mean its not good to stay out there until you feel really really dizzy?

Hell that is everytime I go out.
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Offline Zoot

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Re: heat
« Reply #13 on: August 22, 2007, 12:38:13 pm »
Avoiding an AC environment, during the day at least,  is key to building stamina to resist the heat. I have also found that proper hydration - not just gulping water every five minutes - is an absolute; When I was in the army I had occasion to train with a former SAS officer who gave me this recipe for a drink to use when engaged in what he called "extreme physical exertion in the desert environment": 1 part pomegranet juice (I often alternate with blueberry juice), 4 parts water or very light green tea, an electrolyte/mineral suppliment (powder or liquid, widely available in health food stores now) and a pinch of ginger powder. Somtimes I throw in some crushed mint leaves. I swear by it.

Offline BMAC

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Re: heat
« Reply #14 on: August 22, 2007, 02:47:26 pm »
Zoot I believe you are dead on about avoiding AC.  That is probably our #1 heat enemy.
God Bless all the troops
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Offline Zoot

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Re: heat
« Reply #15 on: August 22, 2007, 07:41:55 pm »
Don't get me wrong here; at the right time AC can be a life saver. But I do believe that when working for prolonged periods outside it should be avoided. Many of my friends who are addicted to AC go around all summer sniffling and coughing from respiratory ailments. I'm convinced that shouldn't be happening in the summer. Another thing that's a bit troubling is how many people will keep it running when the weather really turns nice. Of course the power company isn't complaining.

Offline Zoot

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Re: heat
« Reply #16 on: August 22, 2007, 07:48:26 pm »
Just thought I'd throw in my one heat exhaustion experience - when I was 12 at a boyscout jamboree at Gettysburg. My dad and our scoutmaster had both served on Eisenhower's staff at different times and we were invited to camp on his farm. The old general was giving us a personal review in 100 f. heat and as he walked by me my vision shrunk to a tiny pinpoint and I was out like a light.

Offline thomashton

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Re: heat
« Reply #17 on: August 22, 2007, 07:59:38 pm »
When I was half the age I am now I was hell on wheels, That was 32&1/2 yrs ago. :roll:
doak

Hey, that's how old I am now and I feel like a geezer already!
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Offline CBEE

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Re: heat
« Reply #18 on: August 24, 2007, 12:40:36 pm »
This has been one of the hottest dryest summers I can remember. We are 14 inches behind on rainfall and the temps have been steady in the upper 90's. Hit 100+ the last 2 days. Bees have been briging in pollen from somewhere but no nectar. They will suck down a quart of sugar water in a couple hours and send a delegation to the house demanding more. :shock: I tried to check them the other day in the morning before it got to hot but never made into the bottom deep. I was sweating to the point I could not see through these blasted glasses and thought it started raining but then realized it was sweat dripping into the hive like rain. I put it back together before I did any real damage not being able to hardly see. They had done a good job of gluing things together. I didnt think I was going to get that 1st frame out. Thought they got ahold of some gorrilla glue  :-D

Offline carol ann

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Re: heat
« Reply #19 on: August 26, 2007, 02:25:27 pm »
Yeah it is hot!
Here in new Mexico we have been having a spell of record highs, or at least real close to our highs it seems for over a month.
I was doing a little research on heat exhaustion.
I have worked over the last 11 years in a nursery/ garden center here. Every year I will go through a spell that reminds me to drink drink drink water, and if possible find more shade in the afternoons.
Anyway the government did a little research on heat exhaustion, and it seems we do acclimate.
The first few days you sweat and loose lots of salts, then, you start to sweat more and loose less salts. Wear more clothing, so I figure the bee suits are more!
Now take in mind this was a desert experiment and did not take in account for the heat index with humidity. That can be a killer. 85 degrees and a 60% humidity can be like working around 100 degrees.
Be care full out there.
Carol Ann
shine on