New guy

Chase · 10-31-2007, 11:35 PM

Hi, my name is Chase. I've been totally deaf nearly 7 years and increasingly hard of hearing for at least a dozen years before. My sister has been totally deaf since birth, and two other family members are growing deaf, so the latest guess is the condition runs in our family.

Until 2001, I taught English at small Montana colleges. For the last several years, I've been a beekeeper and have recently retired to Oregon to write novels--mysteries with deaf protagonists.

Sunshine1 · 11-01-2007, 12:20 AM

Hello Chase ....Welcome to alldeaf forum!

Schermy · 11-01-2007, 07:42 AM

Howdy and enjoy your time here.

fredfam1 · 11-01-2007, 09:22 AM

Welcome Chase, I like detective stories.
Maybe you could develope a Deaf detective!
Worlds greatest Deaf Detective!

You are within 50 miles of us. I am starting a
Deaf Chat Coffee in Willamina.
It begins Dec 2 and will be once a month.
At Fat Coffee in Willamina on main Street.
The young girl that works their is HOH and
looks forward to improving her ASL skills.

Chase · 11-01-2007, 01:22 PM

Thanks for your welcomes, Sunshine and Shermy.

Fredfam, I have a first novel with a deaf amateur detective making the rounds of publishers. It's certainly not a unique idea, as there are a few well-written efforts out there. They just don't seem to capture the mainstream reader's fancy well enough to become best sellers.

My current work-in-progress involves the current mystery of disappearing honey bees. The hero is a deaf beekeeper who tries to figure things out. This novel branches into the occult with some elements of romance. Ha ha ha, maybe with enough other genres mixed in, it will appeal to more readers.

I've only been in Albany about a year, and if there's an active deaf community, they're pretty well hid. I went to a SHHHH meeting in a nearby town, but it was mostly for folks with some degree of hearing. No else was totally deaf, and no one signed. Ha ha ha, their leader's solution to help me hear better was to shout. It got hilarious.

Good luck with your kaffeeklatch.

Chase

PS. There is a TV crime series playing on the "ion" channel with a deaf federal agent. It's called Sue Thomas, FB Eye, Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 10 p.m., I believe. There are some worthwhile promotions of deafie problems, and I hope the show becomes popular and finds a more prime time spot, as she has a "hearing-ear" dog and engages in some ASL with colleagues. However, Sue speaks with no "off" tone or volume, and her "lipreading" (the show does not yet use the term "speechreading" nor point out the differences) is too perfect to be real. Having said that, the show is better at pointing up difficulties in speechreading than any other TV entertainment I've seen.

fredfam1 · 11-01-2007, 02:10 PM

I've seen that show from time to time, and I really liked it.
As for her lip reading skills, the show seemed to me to
imply that her skill was "para normal" even for the Deaf!
haha but thats TV for you! I could detect a mild off tone
in her voice, but that's because I moved all around the
US when I was young, (NavyBrat) and I can even tell
what state a person is from weather they are from Texas
or Tenn, or Florida or GA, where ever.
In your Bee story, did you touch on the Virus theory? Or
was it more insidious than that?

Roadrunner · 11-01-2007, 03:06 PM

Hello and welcome to Alldeaf! Nice and interesting introduction--a novelist, nice to meet another 'writer'. (no pun intended, but aren't we all 'writers'??

) Anyhow, hope you'll enjoy your stay here in AD!

~RR

Kaitin · 11-01-2007, 05:09 PM

Hi, Chase:

Wow. English professor, beekeeper, and novelist! Interesting! Does smoke really make bees sleep?

Agree about SHHH and HLA - seems more to mild-moderate hearing loss. They shouted at you? Good communication!

Chase · 11-01-2007, 06:03 PM

Roadrunner: At first I thought I'd made some wild claims in my intro about being a writer and a novelist. Whew! Glad I didn't, as I reserve those terms for folks who make a living at it. So far, what I do is write novels as a hobby.

My living comes from surviving to the ripe old age of 66 to be able to get back some of the state retirement I paid into for 19 years and social security I paid for 52 years. Ha ha ha, it ain't enough, so I work part-time as a beekeeper--a honey of a job if you can stand being bugged, but it stung the wolf away from my door after I went deaf until I could retire with full bennies. I appreciate the welcome, Roadrunner (that's the mascot for the local college).

Kaitlin. Smoke doesn't make 'em sleep. The prevailing theory is smoke causes workers to believe the hive is in the path of a forest or range fire (that's why most beekeepers burn wood or burlap). Instead of stinging, they get busy deep in the hive gorging on honey so they can "swarm," a term that means to leave the present hive with a queen to seek another. Also, a worker full of honey can't curl its body as readily to deliver a sting. This all keeps the majority of workers from needlessly stinging and dying while the beekeeper does whatever is needed to collect extra honey or care for the hive. But it only works for a short time; too much smoke too long and they take their brood honey and queen and move away.

If you're impressed about my sordid past as an English professor, you're a minority. Ha ha ha, most folks get hostile, probably with good reason.

shel90 · 11-01-2007, 08:26 PM

Hello and

to AD!

Kaitin · 11-01-2007, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chase

Kaitlin. Smoke doesn't make 'em sleep. The prevailing theory is smoke causes workers to believe the hive is in the path of a forest or range fire (that's why most beekeepers burn wood or burlap). Instead of stinging, they get busy deep in the hive gorging on honey so they can "swarm," a term that means to leave the present hive with a queen to seek another. Also, a worker full of honey can't curl its body as readily to deliver a sting. This all keeps the majority of workers from needlessly stinging and dying while the beekeeper does whatever is needed to collect extra honey or care for the hive. But it only works for a short time; too much smoke too long and they take their brood honey and queen and move away.

If you're impressed about my sordid past as an English professor, you're a minority. Ha ha ha, most folks get hostile, probably with good reason.

Interesting!

More questions (you can ignore - I am too curious about everything): Do you get beestings a lot? Doesn't too many beestings make a big risk for allergy? What is the new problem that empty the hive - empty hive syndome or something.........dead hive syndrome? I can't remember. Do you know the word and the problem?

Thank you!

Phillips · 11-02-2007, 07:04 AM

Hello!!

Chase · 11-02-2007, 09:43 AM

Thanks for the greetings, Shel and Phillips. Nice site you folks have here.

Kaitlin, questions to an old teacher is like a bell to an old fire horse--makes us all excited.

Like most longtime beekeepers, I seldom wear gloves when working inside the hive because gloves tend to make keepers careless and crush bees. Even if workers and drones are expendable, one bee is the queen, and she's vital to the hive and honey production. So I get stung on the hands once or twice a day. I'm not alergic, so it just hurts like hell for a couple minutes. The most I was ever stung was forty times on the face and neck when my hat and veil were knocked off while working a hive of Texas bees (nasty little bitches). I got out the epinephrine injector just in case, but only lumped up, didn't have trouble breathing.

I have heard that a history of stings can increase the chance of anaphylaxis, but in my case the more I'm stung, the less is my local reaction. So far, so good.

The current mystery malady affecting hives is Colony Collapse Disorder. The novel I'm working on is a fiction about its cause.

Kaitin · 11-02-2007, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chase

Thanks for the greetings, Shel and Phillips. Nice site you folks have here.

Kaitlin, questions to an old teacher is like a bell to an old fire horse--makes us all excited.

Like most longtime beekeepers, I seldom wear gloves when working inside the hive because gloves tend to make keepers careless and crush bees. Even if workers and drones are expendable, one bee is the queen, and she's vital to the hive and honey production. So I get stung on the hands once or twice a day. I'm not alergic, so it just hurts like hell for a couple minutes. The most I was ever stung was forty times on the face and neck when my hat and veil were knocked off while working a hive of Texas bees (nasty little bitches). I got out the epinephrine injector just in case, but only lumped up, didn't have trouble breathing.

I have heard that a history of stings can increase the chance of anaphylaxis, but in my case the more I'm stung, the less is my local reaction. So far, so good.

The current mystery malady affecting hives is Colony Collapse Disorder. The novel I'm working on is a fiction about its cause.

!

Forty beestings at one time?? Wow. So with "the more I'm stung, the less is my local reaction" do beestings hurt less? If so, still - forty beestings must hurt! I was stung only twice but painful to me. And no gloves??

No way. I am scared of bees so no beekeeper career. But bees crawling on the hands.......

Now do you worry about your hands more with hearing loss and sign?

You are writing a novel about Colony Collapse Disorder?! What is the cause do you think? Will bees be extinct? I read a article about Colony Collapse Disorder - the hive is empty and bees just gone. The article said maybe Colony Collapse Disorder is like bee AIDS - one immune problem and then many infections. If so, where are the dead bees? Why is the hive empty?

Chase · 11-02-2007, 10:46 AM

Unfortunately, bee and yellowjacket stings are still a couple minutes of pure agony for me, but nowadays my hands don't swell anymore. Boy, a sting on the face still does (no beekeeper's outfit is completely bee-proof). The whole idea, though, is to treat the ladies gently and get out of their kitchen before they get too ticked off. Kind of like my own species, ha ha ha.

Colony Collapse Disorder is still a mystery, having about as many theories as there are research apiaries. I'm trying to reject the major theories in my novel, until only my fictional cause seems to remain. Anyway, we don't really know that the workers are dead; they just don't return to their hives. It could be that they are reverting back to the wild, you know swarming to hollow trees in the deep woods. As far fetched as that may be, it's the fictional idea I'm playing with. Pure speculation, for sure, and I'm trying to mix in a bit of magic and romance to the mystery featuring a deaf bee scientist. Thanks for asking.

Schermy · 11-02-2007, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chase

Thanks for the greetings, Shel and Phillips. Nice site you folks have here.

Kaitlin, questions to an old teacher is like a bell to an old fire horse--makes us all excited.

Like most longtime beekeepers, I seldom wear gloves when working inside the hive because gloves tend to make keepers careless and crush bees. Even if workers and drones are expendable, one bee is the queen, and she's vital to the hive and honey production. So I get stung on the hands once or twice a day. I'm not alergic, so it just hurts like hell for a couple minutes. The most I was ever stung was forty times on the face and neck when my hat and veil were knocked off while working a hive of Texas bees (nasty little bitches). I got out the epinephrine injector just in case, but only lumped up, didn't have trouble breathing.

I have heard that a history of stings can increase the chance of anaphylaxis, but in my case the more I'm stung, the less is my local reaction. So far, so good.

The current mystery malady affecting hives is Colony Collapse Disorder. The novel I'm working on is a fiction about its cause.

This is making my skin crawl!!! I am soooooooo allergic to stings it's not funny!!!!!!!! God bless you cause I truly enjoy honey.

Chase · 11-02-2007, 12:13 PM

Schermy, thanks, I'm a hopless honeyholic: My name is Chase, and I've been free of honey in my coffee for nearly five minutes, ha ha ha.

By allergic to stings, do you mean you'll die if stung? If that's the case, you need to see your physician to get an anti-anaphylaxis kit. It has Benadryl pills and shots of epinephrine. The symptoms leading to collapse is first itching of the palms and armpits . . . splotchy red spots on chest, neck, and face . . . then tightening of the throat and difficulty breathing.

Or do you mean the stings hurt like hell and the area swells up and gets hot and tight? If that's the case, that's a typical reaction, and you're not really allergic, just normally sensitive to a small injection of concentrated protein more powerful than rattlesnake venom.

I also understand your skin crawling. When they're docile, bees wander inside my bee gear, and I only reach in and shoo them gently out. But just speaking about snakes made me cringe. A little girl with a garter snake could run me screaming all over the countryside.

Schermy · 11-02-2007, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chase

Schermy, thanks, I'm a hopless honeyholic: My name is Chase, and I've been free of honey in my coffee for nearly five minutes, ha ha ha.

By allergic to stings, do you mean you'll die if stung? If that's the case, you need to see your physician to get an anti-anaphylaxis kit. It has Benadryl pills and shots of epinephrine. The symptoms leading to collapse is first itching of the palms and armpits . . . splotchy red spots on chest, neck, and face . . . then tightening of the throat and difficulty breathing.

Or do you mean the stings hurt like hell and the area swells up and gets hot and tight? If that's the case, that's a typical reaction, and you're not really allergic, just normally sensitive to a small injection of concentrated protein more powerful than rattlesnake venom.

I also understand your skin crawling. When they're docile, bees wander inside my bee gear, and I only reach in and shoo them gently out. But just speaking about snakes made me cringe. A little girl with a garter snake could run me screaming all over the countryside.

Oh darlin Chase..........I cary an Epi pen with me at all times. I am to shoot up and get to the ER. So I guess I fall in the "die" catagory. It's scary.

I should join HA(honeyholic anonymous) but I refuse to admit it's a "problem" so I'm hopeless.

pek1 · 11-02-2007, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chase

. . . When they're docile, bees wander inside my bee gear, and I only reach in and shoo them gently out. But just speaking about snakes made me cringe. A little girl with a garter snake could run me screaming all over the countryside.

You and me both, buddy! Welcome to alldeaf from another writer. I'm working on short stories mainly and am also a professional student. With bees and snakes, both will make me run! I'm scared of both of them; however, at the state fair I will look at the bee exhibit, as those little critters are behind the glass and can't come out to greet me.

Kaitin · 11-02-2007, 08:08 PM

Pete and Chase:

Years ago I own a pet snake. Very shy and not aggresive. Except the smell.

The snake liked to watch tv - with CC! But bees, with the sharp legs and stings..........

Chase: I tried to read about difference with bee and yellowjacket, but I can't look at the pictures - like you write: just speaking about them make me cringe!

shel90 · 11-02-2007, 08:43 PM

Chase...is it true if u react violently to a bee or yellowjacket, they will become aggressive. So often, I have been told to act neutral when they are buzzing around me but I start swinging at them and running trying to get rid of them. I am not allergic to them but I have been stung before and it is not something I enjoy! LOL!

BTW, I love snakes..

fredfam1 · 11-02-2007, 09:11 PM

Colony Collapse Disorder is still a mystery, having about as many theories as there are research apiaries. I'm trying to reject the major theories in my novel, until only my fictional cause seems to remain. Anyway, we don't really know that the workers are dead; they just don't return to their hives. It could be that they are reverting back to the wild, you know swarming to hollow trees in the deep woods. As far fetched as that may be, it's the fictional idea I'm playing with. Pure speculation, for sure, and I'm trying to mix in a bit of magic and romance to the mystery featuring a deaf bee scientist.

Here is a peice of science you maybe able to use in your novel. There was
at one point a Viral Theory floating around about Bee disorder. I've always
thought a cool way to test this would be to place some liqued L-Lysine in
their nectar feed, (assuming their immune systems respond in the same
way humans do) Hi argine and low lysine concentrations promote viral
growth in humans. Perhaps it would be better to mist the colony with it
instead because I don't know what the amino acid concentrations would
be in the nectar or what is in that stuff you guys feed them in the winter.
I have a bee keeper down the road from us. He gives me honey and I cut
his hair. I love to barter!

Chase · 11-03-2007, 10:56 AM

Pete, ha ha ha, for a long time I thought my profession was permanent student. After college, I taught six years at a high school, but many nights were spent in some night class or other. Idaho State (go, Bengals) actually paid me (although being a scum-of-the-earth teaching and research assistant did feel a great deal like slavery) so grad school was a profession of sorts. I've enjoyed your writing at this site. Maybe someday we might exchange some stories-in-progress for mutual critique. One thing I miss here in Oregon is an active writers' group.

Shel, yup, waving arms and shouting ticks off bees and hornets just like it ticks off us deafies. You might as well wave a sign "Sting me!" The best defense is to slowly cover your head with your shirt or at least protect your eyes with your hands and walk away. I hate stings, too. I wish Oregon were like Ireland and I were St. Patrick. I'd chase all the snakes to Maryland to be with you, ha ha ha.

Cathe, the apiary in Colton I used to work for just trucked a lot of our bees back from the onion fields near Madras in your oart of Oregon. They're resting up to go to the almond orchards around Oakdale, California, in January. I have heard of the virus theory, but that should produce masses of dead bees, and no one has noticed any. I like your lab process. I'm sure something like that is being done, and I plan to have a research lab in my book. Thanks for any and all ideas.

jillio · 11-03-2007, 11:09 AM

Wow! What an interesting background you have! I look forward to your contributions on this forum.

LOL....I understand your remarks about forced slavery in the form of TA and RA on a very personal level! I have recently returned to school to pursue my PhD and the stipend and the work hours rarely equalize! LOL.

fredfam1 · 11-03-2007, 11:24 AM

Yeah but maybe birds think virus infected bees taste really good.
Like choclate covered peanuts. I never drop any of those guys on
the ground, or leave a trail. mmmmmmm

Chase · 11-03-2007, 11:36 AM

Ain't it awful, Jillio? The competition for available TA slots was fierce, so you either kissed up to the tenured profs and worked your butt off or some bright kid from Harvard or nun on sabbatical would be "earning" your stipend next semester. Besides prepping and teaching my own 101 classes of surly freshmen, many of whom have only contempt for TAs, I got coffee, ran errands, subbed for my professor, corrected his or her papers. TV shows show how hard it is on hospital residents, but I remember getting kicked out of the campus library at 1 a.m. and sleeping in my car so I could go back in when it opened at 7 a.m. The only reason I loved it was I thoroughly enjoy abuse and suffering, ha ha ha. Good luck to you!

10-31-2007, 11:35 PM	#1 (permalink)
Chase Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 2,316	New guy Hi, my name is Chase. I've been totally deaf nearly 7 years and increasingly hard of hearing for at least a dozen years before. My sister has been totally deaf since birth, and two other family members are growing deaf, so the latest guess is the condition runs in our family. Until 2001, I taught English at small Montana colleges. For the last several years, I've been a beekeeper and have recently retired to Oregon to write novels--mysteries with deaf protagonists.

11-01-2007, 12:20 AM	#2 (permalink)
Sunshine1 CM Punk's Godmother/Aunt Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 1,427	Hello Chase ....Welcome to alldeaf forum! __________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ My nephew/godson ~CM Punk~ ~~~~~~~~Dancer~~~~~~~~:

11-01-2007, 01:22 PM	#5 (permalink)
Chase Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 2,316	Thanks Thanks for your welcomes, Sunshine and Shermy. Fredfam, I have a first novel with a deaf amateur detective making the rounds of publishers. It's certainly not a unique idea, as there are a few well-written efforts out there. They just don't seem to capture the mainstream reader's fancy well enough to become best sellers. My current work-in-progress involves the current mystery of disappearing honey bees. The hero is a deaf beekeeper who tries to figure things out. This novel branches into the occult with some elements of romance. Ha ha ha, maybe with enough other genres mixed in, it will appeal to more readers. I've only been in Albany about a year, and if there's an active deaf community, they're pretty well hid. I went to a SHHHH meeting in a nearby town, but it was mostly for folks with some degree of hearing. No else was totally deaf, and no one signed. Ha ha ha, their leader's solution to help me hear better was to shout. It got hilarious. Good luck with your kaffeeklatch. Chase PS. There is a TV crime series playing on the "ion" channel with a deaf federal agent. It's called Sue Thomas, FB Eye, Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 10 p.m., I believe. There are some worthwhile promotions of deafie problems, and I hope the show becomes popular and finds a more prime time spot, as she has a "hearing-ear" dog and engages in some ASL with colleagues. However, Sue speaks with no "off" tone or volume, and her "lipreading" (the show does not yet use the term "speechreading" nor point out the differences) is too perfect to be real. Having said that, the show is better at pointing up difficulties in speechreading than any other TV entertainment I've seen.

11-01-2007, 08:26 PM	#10 (permalink)
shel90 Sun Whorshipper Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: A Desert Rat that has found herself in Maryland Posts: 13,580 Blog Entries: 1	Hello and to AD! __________________ ~Shel~

11-02-2007, 07:04 AM	#12 (permalink)
Phillips Lets ride horses! Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Somewhere in Northeast Posts: 6,306 Blog Entries: 3	Hello!! __________________ *Enjoy life today, Yesterday has past and Tomorrow may never come.*

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11-01-2007, 07:42 AM	#3 (permalink)
Schermy Dragon Lady Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 1,306	Howdy and enjoy your time here.

11-01-2007, 09:22 AM	#4 (permalink)
fredfam1 Cathe Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Oregon Posts: 873	Welcome Chase, I like detective stories. Maybe you could develope a Deaf detective! Worlds greatest Deaf Detective! You are within 50 miles of us. I am starting a Deaf Chat Coffee in Willamina. It begins Dec 2 and will be once a month. At Fat Coffee in Willamina on main Street. The young girl that works their is HOH and looks forward to improving her ASL skills.

11-01-2007, 02:10 PM	#6 (permalink)
fredfam1 Cathe Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Oregon Posts: 873	I've seen that show from time to time, and I really liked it. As for her lip reading skills, the show seemed to me to imply that her skill was "para normal" even for the Deaf! haha but thats TV for you! I could detect a mild off tone in her voice, but that's because I moved all around the US when I was young, (NavyBrat) and I can even tell what state a person is from weather they are from Texas or Tenn, or Florida or GA, where ever. In your Bee story, did you touch on the Virus theory? Or was it more insidious than that?

11-01-2007, 03:06 PM	#7 (permalink)
Roadrunner Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Ohio Posts: 7,090	Hello and welcome to Alldeaf! Nice and interesting introduction--a novelist, nice to meet another 'writer'. (no pun intended, but aren't we all 'writers'?? ) Anyhow, hope you'll enjoy your stay here in AD! ~RR

11-01-2007, 05:09 PM	#8 (permalink)
Kaitin Registered User Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 845 Blog Entries: 23	Hi, Chase: Wow. English professor, beekeeper, and novelist! Interesting! Does smoke really make bees sleep? Agree about SHHH and HLA - seems more to mild-moderate hearing loss. They shouted at you? Good communication!

11-01-2007, 06:03 PM	#9 (permalink)
Chase Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 2,316	Roadrunner: At first I thought I'd made some wild claims in my intro about being a writer and a novelist. Whew! Glad I didn't, as I reserve those terms for folks who make a living at it. So far, what I do is write novels as a hobby. My living comes from surviving to the ripe old age of 66 to be able to get back some of the state retirement I paid into for 19 years and social security I paid for 52 years. Ha ha ha, it ain't enough, so I work part-time as a beekeeper--a honey of a job if you can stand being bugged, but it stung the wolf away from my door after I went deaf until I could retire with full bennies. I appreciate the welcome, Roadrunner (that's the mascot for the local college). Kaitlin. Smoke doesn't make 'em sleep. The prevailing theory is smoke causes workers to believe the hive is in the path of a forest or range fire (that's why most beekeepers burn wood or burlap). Instead of stinging, they get busy deep in the hive gorging on honey so they can "swarm," a term that means to leave the present hive with a queen to seek another. Also, a worker full of honey can't curl its body as readily to deliver a sting. This all keeps the majority of workers from needlessly stinging and dying while the beekeeper does whatever is needed to collect extra honey or care for the hive. But it only works for a short time; too much smoke too long and they take their brood honey and queen and move away. If you're impressed about my sordid past as an English professor, you're a minority. Ha ha ha, most folks get hostile, probably with good reason.

11-02-2007, 09:43 AM	#13 (permalink)
Chase Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 2,316	Hello back Thanks for the greetings, Shel and Phillips. Nice site you folks have here. Kaitlin, questions to an old teacher is like a bell to an old fire horse--makes us all excited. Like most longtime beekeepers, I seldom wear gloves when working inside the hive because gloves tend to make keepers careless and crush bees. Even if workers and drones are expendable, one bee is the queen, and she's vital to the hive and honey production. So I get stung on the hands once or twice a day. I'm not alergic, so it just hurts like hell for a couple minutes. The most I was ever stung was forty times on the face and neck when my hat and veil were knocked off while working a hive of Texas bees (nasty little bitches). I got out the epinephrine injector just in case, but only lumped up, didn't have trouble breathing. I have heard that a history of stings can increase the chance of anaphylaxis, but in my case the more I'm stung, the less is my local reaction. So far, so good. The current mystery malady affecting hives is Colony Collapse Disorder. The novel I'm working on is a fiction about its cause.

11-02-2007, 10:46 AM	#15 (permalink)
Chase Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 2,316	Bee's wax Unfortunately, bee and yellowjacket stings are still a couple minutes of pure agony for me, but nowadays my hands don't swell anymore. Boy, a sting on the face still does (no beekeeper's outfit is completely bee-proof). The whole idea, though, is to treat the ladies gently and get out of their kitchen before they get too ticked off. Kind of like my own species, ha ha ha. Colony Collapse Disorder is still a mystery, having about as many theories as there are research apiaries. I'm trying to reject the major theories in my novel, until only my fictional cause seems to remain. Anyway, we don't really know that the workers are dead; they just don't return to their hives. It could be that they are reverting back to the wild, you know swarming to hollow trees in the deep woods. As far fetched as that may be, it's the fictional idea I'm playing with. Pure speculation, for sure, and I'm trying to mix in a bit of magic and romance to the mystery featuring a deaf bee scientist. Thanks for asking.

11-02-2007, 12:13 PM	#17 (permalink)
Chase Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 2,316	Stings Schermy, thanks, I'm a hopless honeyholic: My name is Chase, and I've been free of honey in my coffee for nearly five minutes, ha ha ha. By allergic to stings, do you mean you'll die if stung? If that's the case, you need to see your physician to get an anti-anaphylaxis kit. It has Benadryl pills and shots of epinephrine. The symptoms leading to collapse is first itching of the palms and armpits . . . splotchy red spots on chest, neck, and face . . . then tightening of the throat and difficulty breathing. Or do you mean the stings hurt like hell and the area swells up and gets hot and tight? If that's the case, that's a typical reaction, and you're not really allergic, just normally sensitive to a small injection of concentrated protein more powerful than rattlesnake venom. I also understand your skin crawling. When they're docile, bees wander inside my bee gear, and I only reach in and shoo them gently out. But just speaking about snakes made me cringe. A little girl with a garter snake could run me screaming all over the countryside.

11-02-2007, 08:08 PM	#20 (permalink)
Kaitin Registered User Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 845 Blog Entries: 23	Pete and Chase: Years ago I own a pet snake. Very shy and not aggresive. Except the smell. The snake liked to watch tv - with CC! But bees, with the sharp legs and stings.......... Chase: I tried to read about difference with bee and yellowjacket, but I can't look at the pictures - like you write: just speaking about them make me cringe!

11-02-2007, 08:43 PM	#21 (permalink)
shel90 Sun Whorshipper Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: A Desert Rat that has found herself in Maryland Posts: 13,580 Blog Entries: 1	Chase...is it true if u react violently to a bee or yellowjacket, they will become aggressive. So often, I have been told to act neutral when they are buzzing around me but I start swinging at them and running trying to get rid of them. I am not allergic to them but I have been stung before and it is not something I enjoy! LOL! BTW, I love snakes.. __________________ ~Shel~

11-02-2007, 09:11 PM	#22 (permalink)
fredfam1 Cathe Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Oregon Posts: 873	Colony Collapse Disorder is still a mystery, having about as many theories as there are research apiaries. I'm trying to reject the major theories in my novel, until only my fictional cause seems to remain. Anyway, we don't really know that the workers are dead; they just don't return to their hives. It could be that they are reverting back to the wild, you know swarming to hollow trees in the deep woods. As far fetched as that may be, it's the fictional idea I'm playing with. Pure speculation, for sure, and I'm trying to mix in a bit of magic and romance to the mystery featuring a deaf bee scientist. Here is a peice of science you maybe able to use in your novel. There was at one point a Viral Theory floating around about Bee disorder. I've always thought a cool way to test this would be to place some liqued L-Lysine in their nectar feed, (assuming their immune systems respond in the same way humans do) Hi argine and low lysine concentrations promote viral growth in humans. Perhaps it would be better to mist the colony with it instead because I don't know what the amino acid concentrations would be in the nectar or what is in that stuff you guys feed them in the winter. I have a bee keeper down the road from us. He gives me honey and I cut his hair. I love to barter!

11-03-2007, 10:56 AM	#23 (permalink)
Chase Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 2,316	Warm welcomes Pete, ha ha ha, for a long time I thought my profession was permanent student. After college, I taught six years at a high school, but many nights were spent in some night class or other. Idaho State (go, Bengals) actually paid me (although being a scum-of-the-earth teaching and research assistant did feel a great deal like slavery) so grad school was a profession of sorts. I've enjoyed your writing at this site. Maybe someday we might exchange some stories-in-progress for mutual critique. One thing I miss here in Oregon is an active writers' group. Shel, yup, waving arms and shouting ticks off bees and hornets just like it ticks off us deafies. You might as well wave a sign "Sting me!" The best defense is to slowly cover your head with your shirt or at least protect your eyes with your hands and walk away. I hate stings, too. I wish Oregon were like Ireland and I were St. Patrick. I'd chase all the snakes to Maryland to be with you, ha ha ha. Cathe, the apiary in Colton I used to work for just trucked a lot of our bees back from the onion fields near Madras in your oart of Oregon. They're resting up to go to the almond orchards around Oakdale, California, in January. I have heard of the virus theory, but that should produce masses of dead bees, and no one has noticed any. I like your lab process. I'm sure something like that is being done, and I plan to have a research lab in my book. Thanks for any and all ideas.

11-03-2007, 11:09 AM	#24 (permalink)
jillio Registered User Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 16,455	Wow! What an interesting background you have! I look forward to your contributions on this forum. LOL....I understand your remarks about forced slavery in the form of TA and RA on a very personal level! I have recently returned to school to pursue my PhD and the stipend and the work hours rarely equalize! LOL.

11-03-2007, 11:24 AM	#25 (permalink)
fredfam1 Cathe Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Oregon Posts: 873	Yeah but maybe birds think virus infected bees taste really good. Like choclate covered peanuts. I never drop any of those guys on the ground, or leave a trail. mmmmmmm

11-03-2007, 11:36 AM	#26 (permalink)
Chase Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 2,316	TA and RA Ain't it awful, Jillio? The competition for available TA slots was fierce, so you either kissed up to the tenured profs and worked your butt off or some bright kid from Harvard or nun on sabbatical would be "earning" your stipend next semester. Besides prepping and teaching my own 101 classes of surly freshmen, many of whom have only contempt for TAs, I got coffee, ran errands, subbed for my professor, corrected his or her papers. TV shows show how hard it is on hospital residents, but I remember getting kicked out of the campus library at 1 a.m. and sleeping in my car so I could go back in when it opened at 7 a.m. The only reason I loved it was I thoroughly enjoy abuse and suffering, ha ha ha. Good luck to you!