Good old Justin whipped out the "Doom" and the "Rungu" and gave the pets a good spray with it to ward off the bees !Yesterday we returned home to a bit of a disaster. Whilst we’d been away from the farm, a huge swarm of bees had attacked the pets out in the garden. Justin was first aware of it when Dibble and Ollie ran in to the house simultaneously, covered in bees and in great agony. Many bees followed them in to the house and all the animals started running inside for cover – only to have the bees follow them, too.
Justin’s first thought was to get Zonde to safety. He said he ran into the garden to find her (suffering many, many stings himself in the process) and dragged her into our bedroom, slamming all the doors and windows closed and swaddling her in thick bath towels for protection. BLESS HIM a hundred times for using his head and ‘saving’ Zonde first because he knows she is very allergic to bee’s and that also due to her cancer, we have to be extra cautious with her. Next he lunged for Ollie (once again, to the 2nd weakest of our animals & the one he knew would need help) and wrapped her in a bath towel, then proceeded to spray her with “Doom” !!! Now in hindsight this is pretty hilarious (and very dangerous) as “Doom” is a household insect spray that you use for killing flies, mosquitoes etc (as is "Rungu" - pictured above) and poor old Ollie got sprayed all over with it. “Mama” Justin said to me “There was nothing else I could do, Ollie had so many bees covering her, too many for me to take off by myself, quickly but the Doom killed them all immediately” (I bet it did) So I guess he did the next best thing.
Then both Dibble and Tessa got the “Doom and bath towel” treatment.
When I got home, Ollie and Tammy were no where to be found (Justin had not seen Tammy throughout the entire incident, so that was a bit of a worry) - I found her late last night when I was searching the garden for both ‘missing’ cats – she was cowering under a bougainvillea bush and meowing pitifully and my husband extracted her to safety ! She was a little shaken and swollen, but otherwise alright. A few hours later Ollie cried at one of the back windows (none of the cats ever stay out after nightfall, so I was really worried by this stage) and jumped straight into my arms when I approached her – her tummy was tender and swollen and she was soaking wet from the rain. (I think that the cats were protected due to their thick coats.)
Fortunately my village strays were not yet hanging around waiting for their food, so none of them were stung.
This morning all the animals are well although a little nervous and Zonde and Ollie have been inside the whole day. I gave Justin a course of antihistamine tablets and some antihistamine cream and he, too, is alright this morning.
This swarm of bees was first spotted in a big tree in our garden on Sunday. They do not have a nest here, but were merely “visiting” and I suspect, were possibly disturbed by one of the cats yesterday. (I believe that bee’s have been known to leave their own territory in times of nectar shortages ?)
We had no choice but to destroy the bees, and last night they were sprayed with diesel and have all since died . They were found in a tree above the flower seedling/vegetable patch I’ve recently planted and, unbelievably, when the gardeners sprayed them they did not THINK to cover the seedlings and as a result I have lost ALL my rocket (which was coming along nicely and the tender young leaves were ready to eat) and most of my lettuce. I really gave the gardeners a piece of my mind this morning, for not THINKING and covering the seedlings before they sprayed. When I saw the trampled seedlings and wilting rocket and lettuce - all covered in slick diesel - I just wanted to sit down and cry from the sheer frustration of it all. I mean, the gardeners planted the seeds with me, knew that I’d brought them all the way back home from South Africa, watched them grow and kept them watered for me – and now this ?! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh !!!!
Anyway, I am just grateful that my daughter and I were not on the farm when the bee’s attacked and that all the animals are fine. Thanks to Justin. Who I slipped a nice cash ‘bonus’ last night as a thank you for thinking on his feet and using his head. Which is more than I can say for the (disgraceful) gardeners.
Justin’s first thought was to get Zonde to safety. He said he ran into the garden to find her (suffering many, many stings himself in the process) and dragged her into our bedroom, slamming all the doors and windows closed and swaddling her in thick bath towels for protection. BLESS HIM a hundred times for using his head and ‘saving’ Zonde first because he knows she is very allergic to bee’s and that also due to her cancer, we have to be extra cautious with her. Next he lunged for Ollie (once again, to the 2nd weakest of our animals & the one he knew would need help) and wrapped her in a bath towel, then proceeded to spray her with “Doom” !!! Now in hindsight this is pretty hilarious (and very dangerous) as “Doom” is a household insect spray that you use for killing flies, mosquitoes etc (as is "Rungu" - pictured above) and poor old Ollie got sprayed all over with it. “Mama” Justin said to me “There was nothing else I could do, Ollie had so many bees covering her, too many for me to take off by myself, quickly but the Doom killed them all immediately” (I bet it did) So I guess he did the next best thing.
Then both Dibble and Tessa got the “Doom and bath towel” treatment.
When I got home, Ollie and Tammy were no where to be found (Justin had not seen Tammy throughout the entire incident, so that was a bit of a worry) - I found her late last night when I was searching the garden for both ‘missing’ cats – she was cowering under a bougainvillea bush and meowing pitifully and my husband extracted her to safety ! She was a little shaken and swollen, but otherwise alright. A few hours later Ollie cried at one of the back windows (none of the cats ever stay out after nightfall, so I was really worried by this stage) and jumped straight into my arms when I approached her – her tummy was tender and swollen and she was soaking wet from the rain. (I think that the cats were protected due to their thick coats.)
Fortunately my village strays were not yet hanging around waiting for their food, so none of them were stung.
This morning all the animals are well although a little nervous and Zonde and Ollie have been inside the whole day. I gave Justin a course of antihistamine tablets and some antihistamine cream and he, too, is alright this morning.
This swarm of bees was first spotted in a big tree in our garden on Sunday. They do not have a nest here, but were merely “visiting” and I suspect, were possibly disturbed by one of the cats yesterday. (I believe that bee’s have been known to leave their own territory in times of nectar shortages ?)
We had no choice but to destroy the bees, and last night they were sprayed with diesel and have all since died . They were found in a tree above the flower seedling/vegetable patch I’ve recently planted and, unbelievably, when the gardeners sprayed them they did not THINK to cover the seedlings and as a result I have lost ALL my rocket (which was coming along nicely and the tender young leaves were ready to eat) and most of my lettuce. I really gave the gardeners a piece of my mind this morning, for not THINKING and covering the seedlings before they sprayed. When I saw the trampled seedlings and wilting rocket and lettuce - all covered in slick diesel - I just wanted to sit down and cry from the sheer frustration of it all. I mean, the gardeners planted the seeds with me, knew that I’d brought them all the way back home from South Africa, watched them grow and kept them watered for me – and now this ?! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh !!!!
Anyway, I am just grateful that my daughter and I were not on the farm when the bee’s attacked and that all the animals are fine. Thanks to Justin. Who I slipped a nice cash ‘bonus’ last night as a thank you for thinking on his feet and using his head. Which is more than I can say for the (disgraceful) gardeners.
