Last year I planted clover in my apiary. Sounds like a good idea, agree? Well the white clover grew well and attracted the deer. The deer brought with them those little blood sucking disease carrying ticks. I sprayed my boots for ticks but somehow the ticks would always find me.
A tick attached to my left shoulder, no big deal I thought as I received tick bites every week. I removed the tick and life goes on. With me a typical tick bite might swell to say 3/4 inch and itch like the dickens. However this shoulder tick bite swelled encompassing an area of 3 square inches, [not 3/4],,most unusual for me. I went to the doc with concerns of a reactive tick bite. Doc was busy so I saw his nurse who would not issue any meds due to the fact that I at that time had no fever.
Tens days later I had 105.3 F fever, tick fever Ehrlichiosis, causing extreme chills, I mean I felt like I was freezing, in 95F hot July weather. My whole body ached, I woke up one morning so light headed and dizzy, I did not even know what day it was. I was able to maintain my body temp to 103.4 by taking aspirin. Another trip to the doc, a diagnosis of a Ehrlichiosis and a prescription of doxycycline, 10 days later I had full recovered.
So, beware of ticks, attracting deer to your apiary if you live in such an area. Now is the time to plant clover in Arkansas,,,,,,but not me, no way.
we bought some land in the country about 20 years ago and built a house
ticks were horrible
got a dozen chickens and the ticks are gone plus free eggs
if you get guinea hens you don't even really need to take care of them (but no eggs)
Wrong place right time... hate it happened but do you really think planting clover and bringing the deer in had anything to do with it???
Quote from: drobbins on March 07, 2019, 09:05:52 PM
if you get guinea hens you don't even really need to take care of them (but no eggs)
Security Alarm............
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Security Alarm............
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Quote from: sc-bee on March 07, 2019, 09:08:03 PM
Wrong place right time... hate it happened but do you really think planting clover and bringing the deer in had anything to do with it???
Well SC, I can say I do know the deer harbors most of the tick fevers and ticks transmit the disease from the deer to man. Tick is the vector, deer are the host. Lyme is probably the most noted:?deer, tick, man.
Before we had deer here, we had rocky mountain spotted fever, carried by ticks. Guineas do lay eggs. I have eaten many of them. Not as prolific as chickens, and a harder shell, but still edible. Guinea meat is also edible, but tougher than chicken.
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Guineas do lay eggs. I have eaten many of them.
yea, but you're a better hunter than me if you can find em :wink:
Guineas cackly [pop rak] when the leave the nest, daily. I have found many nest by listening for the cackling of these birds. The nest will be very close.
Quote from: iddee on March 07, 2019, 10:05:30 PM
Before we had deer here, we had rocky mountain spotted fever, carried by ticks. Guineas do lay eggs. I have eaten many of them. Not as prolific as chickens, and a harder shell, but still edible. Guinea meat is also edible, but tougher than chicken.
In the Bitterroot Valley, Mt, they found prairie dogs to be the main host for Rocky Mtn spotted fever.
eggs or not, chickens are a tremendous help with ticks
I don't think I saw a single one last year
some folks say they help with hive beetles too
Quote from: van from Arkansas on March 07, 2019, 09:56:20 PM
Quote from: sc-bee on March 07, 2019, 09:08:03 PM
Wrong place right time... hate it happened but do you really think planting clover and bringing the deer in had anything to do with it???
Well SC, I can say I do know the deer harbors most of the tick fevers and ticks transmit the disease from the deer to man. Tick is the vector, deer are the host. Lyme is probably the most noted:?deer, tick, man.
They are on rodents too... so I guess it could be a Rat,tick, man :wink: Anyway hope you have no more issues and are clear...
I get ticks on me when I walk through thick sections of my forest, usually chasing an animal. If you get them out in less than 24 hours you usually do not get sick, per my doctor. After I remove one, I keep an eye on it for a week. If you get a big ring around it, time to see your Doctor and don?t leave until you get a shot. I did get the ring around one last goer and immediately went and got a shot. I did not have any serious problems.
Jim
I get more ticks from walking in my hives than I do in the clover. There are way too many deer on my property and I see many ticks on the deer.
When I leave the house I spray my skin and clothing with anti-tick spray and it works pretty good. If I don't I get a lot of bites.
I'm gonna look into those guinea though. Anything that helps with mice, ticks and beetles is worth a try!
Guineas are SUPER LOUD. I don?t have any but a friend of mine has four and they are always talking.
Also, I don?t know how many of you have rattlesnakes, but my chickens killed one about 1 1/2 feet long two years ago. I had no idea chickens were that brave! They didn?t eat it though.
Lizzie
apparently, rattlesnakes ain't as tough as they're made out to bee
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A5pXIuYlz4][/url]
That is amazing that the rabbit survived that. Rabbits are very frail animals. All it would have taken was one fang to break the skin. I used to shoot them with a BB gun when I was young and they would jump in the air and fall to the ground dead.
Jim
I watched this from my phone. Small viewing. Are y'all sure that was a rattle snake and not a chicken snake? Even rabbits will sometimes defend their young when the young is in danger. Especially if they have a fighting chance. Chicken snakes are a climbing snake also. 🐍. For you folks who watched this on a proper sized computer screen, you might could have plainly seen this was a rattle snake ?
Game Chickens Mr Van and your tick problems will be cured. Hatch, Roundheaf, Claret, Kelso, Grey, Spangle, Albany, doesn't matter as long as they are Game Chickens. I guess tractor supply chickens would do, but game chickens are better survivors tnan the common chicken. Hens can come off a nest like a quail!
Philip - I originally saw that video around 2001. The image quality of the one posted here is less than the original. Yes - its a rattlesnake. Big one too.
It was always my understanding that rattlers are afraid of heights - which is the reason they are put on tall stools in snake shows - 'cause they won't go anywhere from there. Also, they are one of the fastest striking snakes.
Seeing that snake climb the tree still cracks me up. That's a gutsy rabbit!
"If you get them out in less than 24 hours you usually do not get sick, per my doctor. "
The latest research says this is not true. Certainly getting them out asap is best but be mindful that still may not be enough to prevent an infection. Actually there is good evidence that fleas, biting flies and mosquitoes can transmit many of the diseases previously thought to only be carried by ticks.
Unfortunately I I have become pretty well versed in tick borne illness. I have been fighting Lyme and Carrion's disease for almost two years now. 29 days in the hospital after finally receiving a proper diagnosis. 9 days in intensive care, almost died. 10 months of IV antibiotics and still taking multiple oral antibiotics. Bee venom therapy, 10 to 15 stings every other day plus herbals. Lyme and Carrion's ruined my health and life. I went from very active and healthy 45 year old to crippled old man in a matter of months. Messed up my heart, liver, thyroid, hearing and crippled my joints. The Lyme is controlled now (latest PCR test shows no Lyme) but the Carrion's is still getting the best of me.
It's scary how little most docs know about tick diseases. When I first became infected I told the doc I thought it was Lyme because I had the bullseye rash but he laughed and said there wasn't any Lyme in WV, obviously not true but I trusted him. Went untreated for a year and by then it had got into my brain. Couldn't talk, passing out all of the time, soaking night sweats, extreme difficulty walking, and some really scary heart issues(messes with the electrical system of your heart). If treated early it almost always results in a positive outcome but if left untreated it can turn into a lifelong nightmare.
Be careful and take tick bites seriously. If something your doc says doesn't sound or seem right to you then question it. Get a second opinion. Don't blindly accept what he or she says as fact. They make mistakes too and when they do the mistakes can have life changing consequences. I never did and now I'm regretting it.
Stay safe and use your tick spray. Hope everyone's bees are doing well. Didn't mean to turn the tone of this thread just don't want anyone else to go through this. Glad you had a full recovery Van.
Mr. Mike, I researched Lyme disease, Borrellia burgdorferi for over a decade, ROCKY mtn Labs NIH/NIAID Lyme is a super organism that can evade the host immune system by living in the cytoplasm of B cells. We did not know this until about 2005. We knew 1:100 patients develope chronic Lyme, basically as you described, living Hell, but did not have answers.
I personally paid the price with disabilities to this day from the radio isotopes used to sequence the DNA of Borellia: P32 for DNA and I135 for siderophores. The I 135 is insane energy, passes through BOTH lead and lucite shields. No complaints on my end, I knew very well the dangers of radiation, but I also knew chronic suffering needed answers. So I gladly accepted the chalange and sequenced, look for siderphores, and ospA vaccines which we determine was a poor vaccine candidate. U of Texas proceeded with producing osp A vaccine despite out warning. The vaccine outcome was a nightmare.
Just want you to know there are folks that take your suffering very seriously, you are viewing the text of one. For over a decade I researched just Lyme Disease, then on to genomic analysis of Strep, Staph etc. for another decade.
Blessings to you Mr. Mike.
What are the chances of a chronic Lyme suffer and a Lyme Researcher with published papers meeting on a honey bee message board. It?s a small world.
More detail than I usually texted, but relative to deer in the apiary, which is problematic here in Arkansas. Where there are bees, there are deer and ticks in Ar. Every week, I get bit by at least one tick.
Just a note, The Rocky Mountain Laboratory is the premiere tick research laboratory in the entire world.
Definition SIDEROPHORE: a molecule produced by bacteria that acquired iron for the host. When people are attacked by bacteria the first line of defense is for the human body to lock up all available iron. Bacteria produce siderophores to steal this iron from the human body. The siderophores possess inconceivable transformation numbers that contain 48-99 zeros after the number. That is a number 1 with at least 48 zeros after it. These are extremely powerful molecules that rob/steal iron for mammals.
Transformation number is the number of substrate molecules transformed per minute by a single enzyme at 25C with optimal conditions.
So my point is, The causative agent of Lyme has evolved ways to steal iron from the body. Most disease causing Bacteria must have iron to grow. I just hate ticks, they may transmit disease.
A buddy of mine developed an allergy to eating the meat of mammals in his mid 50's
A hamburger results in anaphylaxis and a trip to the ER
It's tick born, bad stuff, called alpha-gal syndrome
I gotta get some more chickens :wink:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alpha-gal-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20428608
Good post DRobbins!! I have heard of that, very real. Ticks that pass on an allergy to meat: beef pork. I realize it is kind of weird but when a person is bitten by said tick, an allergy to meat occurs, a deadly allergy that last the life of the victims.
Van,
Yea, it's really bad, he basically can't eat in a restaurant or packaged food because you don't really know what's in it.
I guess its good for you not to eat either of those but it's darn inconvenient
Dave
Wow Van, that is crazy to meet up like this, thank you for your contributions and sacrifices. You're work benefits many who are suffering terribly.
Are you aware of any progress or new ways treat cases like mine? When originally tested I was positive for all 13 lyme titers plus bartonella bacilliformis. I'd love any advice from an insider on the front lines. I try to read papers and research as it comes out but it can be overwhelming. My mind and memory in particular have been affected. I really expected to be well by now.
What in your opinion is the reason the CDC and medical community at large has seemingly turned it's back on those of us who are chronically Ill? I've heard all sorts of theories, Plum island link, part two of the Tuskegee experiment etc but I have a hard time believing any of them. I would love to know what you think. There are so many people suffering from chronic lyme that can't find or get help. The doctors who do treat them have 6+ month waits and cost thousands of dollars. I talk to others on the net who are way worse than I am so I try not complain because I know it could have been much worse. Some have been sick for 20+ years. Some lost their spouses, jobs, homes, mobility, control of bodily function, sanity, everything. I have been very fortunate, my wife has been amazing through all of this. My finances took a major hit but i still have what's important and I have more days on my feet than I did this time last year so that's progress I guess. Spent the first 6 weeks of this year in bed looking at the ceiling but bouncing back somewhat now. The insane joint pain is the worst for me and sometimes the uncontrollable jerking and twitching can keep me awake for days. I've been throwing everything at it that I can, bee venom, antibiotics, herbals, and supplements. I'm so desperate I would try just about anything.
Again Van I mean it, thank you for both your contributions and sacrifices.