On 4/26/2012 5:27 PM, Wayne Kline wrote:
> Lyme Disease, is s serious concern for anybody working walking in a wooded
> area or any tower located in a grounf brush area.An ounce of protection is
> worth a pound cure. But as warmer weather is apron us, My major concern is
> from the Stinging flying critters. not fun as you are climbing over a tic
> ring or around a swing gate .MY worse experience was from a sema box used
> as a Prop-Pitch Selsyin wire junction tie box. and just above the rung I
> was stand on.Well thank GOD it was a Bee nest - as the ones that were up my
> Jeans could only Sting me Once as I crushed them between the material and my
> calf ankle area.This was on a old Air Motor free standing tower, Lesson
> learned. always examine any area for Bee/Wasp nesting area and carry a can of
> bug kill as you go aloft. Be Safe. Wayne W3EA> From: ai.egrps@gmail.com
Now these we have in abundance. We always have a few nests but a few
years back we had an abundance of paper wasps. Those are the ones that
build nests that look like over size, gray footballs hanging on end.
That year I took down over 17 nests IIRC. Only got stung once. We
didn't have near as many the next year but that year they got me three
times. I went out to the shop and in the man door. I was in there
about 2 hours. during that time they made a good start at building a
nest in the corner on the hinge side of that man door. When I came out
I just opened the door, stepped through and closed it behind me and in
the process, squashed one side of the nest killing a number of wasps.
Two of them took exception to that and got me between the shoulders. It
was like being hit with a hammer.
Speaking of hammers, I found a Bald Faced Hornet in the basement and
those suckers are big...and mean. Fortunately this one was already on
his last legs and easy to finish off. They tell me that getting stung
by one of those is like being hit with a hammer.
Junction and equipment boxes should always be closed to entry one way
or another. Coax feed throughs and compression fittings for rotator
and control cables. Don't leave a hole for them to get through. Even
the drain hold on the matching network for an AV640 is too large. Check
out the 6th photo from the top.
http://www.rogerhalstead.com/ham_files/AV-640/AV640.htm Another source
for those critters is inside masts and inside the corners of towers made
of steel or aluminum angle.
Anywhere near the base of towers you also have to watch out for Yellow
Jackets. They are a very small critter about half to a quarter the size
of a honey bee, with a very nasty disposition. They, like bumblebees
build nests underground. Last year they were going under the garage
floor, coming in from under one corner of the apron on the East side in
front of the garage. I filled the opening with expandable yellow foam
one evening. I should have done it mid day. The next morning (late
morning) I stepped out the back door into the garage, and right back
into the kitchen. The garage was loaded with thousands of those nasty
tempered critters The windows were completely covered with them and
each light was a mass of bees hanging from the ceiling. I think I used 3
or 4 of the large cans of bee and wasp killer that shoot a stream. It
was a huge colony large enough to more than half fill a pail from the
ones just in the garage.
Later I discovered them getting into the N garage wall. They were going
up under the siding and then getting into the foundation and from there
under the garage floor.
Even if they don't have a nest up there, it's common to find many of
them flying around the upper part of the tower.
73
Roger (K8RI)
>> Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:26:08 -0400
>> To: towertalk@contesting.com
>> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Antenna/Tower work safety - Lyme Disease safety
>>
>>> ... and then using a little tool which is a plastic spoon with a
>>> v groove cut in it to get under him and lift him off. ...
>>> The little tool was given out at a tick seminar
>>> once. I don't know where you can get them.
>> Pet supply store. I had them for my dog.
>>
>> I don't know if they work on the much smaller deer ticks; but I don't
>> recall seeing them mentioned in the CDC tick information.
>>
>> Andy
>> kb1nxm
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