jdmidwest

He has finally made it to Barnes now. I had some good news from him tonight. First run of testing there has it at the base of his tongue, a different form than what we originally was told.. Its not in his Larynx or salivary gland. The doctors at Barnes told him it is curable. Good news. He has a long road of treatment that still has to be determined, but he will survive it.

I had a very light phase cottonmouth in TN about a month ago that looked alot like a copperhead or common watersnake. But it was a cotton mouth. It rode high on top of the water and sported cat eyes. But not coppery like a copperhead.

Its only over for this season at the house. Starting fresh again next year with new brood stock. I still have 4 hives at the farm that don't seem to have an infestation there. That mess of bees I swept into a new hive last night were working fine today. Now, if I can keep the beetles at bay till frost, they may have a chance. I will know in a few weeks if I open them up and find some brood inside showing the queen is still in good shape. Otherwise, this one will freeze out this winter. My mentor came into the office today with a new little find. A little black beetle he found in his honey supers that he had in storage waiting for extraction. If the honey ferments in the jars, they have done their nasty on his too. Only a few weeks will tell on that one. It is true, beekeepers are the sole root cause of all of the bee problems in the US. Most of the major plagues to the bees have come from the importation of bees from out of the country. Like alot of other invasive species, they have come ashore from foreign countries. This beetle came out of Africa. Killer bees have came from South America. Mites from Europe. On and On.

Still on sale. I seriously thought about putting one on my trolling motor or dash as a primary nav unit to replace my HDS 5.

Almost past getting ready for winter, it will be here in 3 weeks with first killing frost. You should probably start feeding the one that is not as strong with 2/1 sugar now for them to build up stores. Each hive has its own personality. If they are healthy. Otherwise, there is a whole new way of looking at them, like I have learned. That mess of bees today was really gentle. I was really dreading it this afternoon, wading in at dark with thunder in the background. But I just brushed them off into another hive and no stings or problems. Only had a few bumpers. The sad thing is another 50 or 75 dollar bill went up in smoke. No reusing the comb, saving the wax or the frames. Just a foul burnt smell of sugar.

Not a good week for the Stingerz Farms. On Thursday, I burned 2 of my last 3 hives at the house. Small hive beetles took their toll on the hives. Nasty little black hard shell beetles from Africa that dung in the honey and cause it to ferment. The larva hatches and millions of maggots start boring thru the honey and it slimes the hive making it the nastiest place on earth, bees move out. I explained it to the better half today as I was burning the last hive, its like someone dumped our septic tank and a bunch of maggots in our house, we would move out too. I inspected the third and felt that they were a strong hive and full of bees and honey. There was a queen and she was still laying. There were beetles inside. I placed a trap with mineral oil in the hive and sprayed the ground all around where the old hives were with Permethrin to kill the larva in the ground. But, it did not help. Friday, Dad informed me that one of the 4 hives at the farm was leaning forward and on the ground off the stand. Being the puss he is around the bees, that is all I could get from him, he did not want to go closer and investigate. Saturday, I came home late from gunshow and noticed that bees have moved outside the hive and were living on it, not in it. Today, trip to farm to upright hive tipped over. Box was still sealed and bees were working good. Hive was heavy and full of honey. Cleaned the weeds out from around hives and sprayed weed killer. Those 4 are doing fairly good, one will probably not make it thru winter without help. Back to the house. All the bees are out of the hive. Shot some pics and started to work. They were gentle to work with as I brushed them off into a small 5 frame hive with some comb inside. They were essentially a swarm of bees. I cracked open the hive and found the same mess. Rotten honey, beetles everywhere and maggots, aka beetle larva. 3 days and everything ruined. Gas and a match, I had me a nice beetle fire, the smell of burnt honey and plastic foundation is still in my nostrils. Hopefully, I can nurse them thru the winter. They are on life support now. No brood, no pollen, and no honey. Nothing for the beetles to mess up. I put a feeder on them. If I am lucky, the queen will start laying and we will have a late frost. Maybe they will have a brood cycle before winter cluster, otherwise, they are goners. Here is a link to the critter I have been fighting https://www.uaex.edu/publications/PDF/FSA-7075.pdf

Moving around to hunt and fatten up for winter hibernation. Moving to the winter den areas in rocky bluffs. We have an area across the river in IL that closes a road for migrations in spring and fall. They move from hilly bluff area to lowland swampy area. Snakes, turtles, and salamanders all migrate across the road.

They ask for a FOID card in Illinois. But that state is nazi controlled.

No marks, must have died of natural causes.

We have been using Swiss law for 12 years and the gunfight at OK Corral has not happened here. I don' t think it will change now.

I am still trying to figure out what a Jasan is. Even my spell checker is showing it as a queer word or something that needs a red outline under it.

The laws passed last week extended the Castle Doctrine to allow invited guests to defend your property also. Nothing really changed in the Castle Doctrine, no mention of an open season on criminals where you could walk down the street and start killing anyone legally. The Castle Doctrine has been in effect for 12 years now without much incidents, just like conceal carry. I am sure nothing will get any worse.

It made for a relaxing trip. I should have ventured further up Rocky Falls and saw Klepsinger Mill. Did not realize how close I was.

The Castle Doctrine does not allow you to shoot anyone just because you want to. It allows you to protect your home and personal property against a lethal threat. It lets you stand your ground and does not require you to try to run away if a criminal offers a lethal threat. It does not allow you to walk down a street and shoot people because you think they are a criminal.

There are plenty of laws in place to protect law abiding citizens from criminals. Sad thing is, criminals do no pay attention to them. Concealed Carry was not appealed, nor has it really changed as of Jan 1, 2017. The tax is removed. People who want to carry a firearm for protection can still seek training and knowledge to do so freely of their own accord. There are still restrictions as to where you can carry a firearm. The ability of a person to defend themself from a criminal has always been there. The new ruling just helps protect victims from civil lawsuits when they have to protect themselves. If someone shoots a criminal unlawfully, they will still have to deal with the legality of the matter. There will still have to be proof that it was a justified cause for lethal action, the new law does not change that. It just offers more protection against civil lawsuits. When someone commits a felony, they lose their Constitutional Rights for the most part. They can't vote, own a firearm, or travel freely around the countryside. The criminal loses some of their Constitutional Rights under the old system and still will under the new.

Since the current rules have been in place since 2004, there has been no gunfights in the streets as far as I can tell by concealed carrying law abiding citizens. The gangsters will still break the law no matter what, they did not apply for a license to carry in the last 12 years, they just carried illegally. Probably with illegally purchased firearms. True criminals, aka felons, will not be able to carry or purchase a firearm. That did not change. The laws are in place to keep criminals from owning and using firearms. I do not disagree that individuals should learn about a firearm and become proficient with it before they attempt to carry one. But, alot of the training courses were held just to satisfy the requirements to meet the taxation. They did nothing to teach the proficient use of a firearm. Its kinda like Hunters Ed Course, they don't make a really good hunter either. They are just taking the course to get the license. A Eight Hour Course will not prepare you for hunting or carrying a handgun for protection.

Christmas?

Put safety chains on the next one.... I have seen it happen on a river a few times. Almost happened Sunday when my buddy powered up the jet to run a shoal and left troller down.

As of January 1, 2017, Missouri will become the 11th state to offer Constitutional Carry to its Citizens. Any resident of Missouri that is of legal capacity to own or purchase a firearm will be legally allowed to carry a firearm concealed in areas that allow it. There are still restrictions. The major victory is there will be no tax involved to carry. Previously, you were required to purchase a license every five years to do so. This was a tax, plain and simple. Now it is an option only if you want to carry in States that honor our Concealed Carry license. There are still rules, laws, and areas that you have to know and obey. The victory is that there is no tax required to do so in the State of Missouri as of 1l1l2017. http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/new-missouri-gun-law-changes-the-rules-but-some-restrictions/article_52cae4d3-310c-5c89-a55e-007ec99fefbf.html

They tend to thrive in the same waters as smallies. Cool and clear. There are management areas in MO for them, minimum length is 8" for possession to encourage trophys.

Crocs will bust your butt pretty fast too. Especially when they get wore down. We hopped out of the boat last time we were on Pickwick and busted up a stream that entered into the lake. I came back, stepped on a log trying to get into the boat, and did a nice back flip due to the slick butt crocs I was wearing. Tore a little chunk out of my new goofy arm skin patch on the trolling motor trying to catch myself.. Come to find out, that tears pretty easy now. But, I don't feel a thing when it happens..

Ouch. When I saw the pics, I thought you had taken a close look at the trolling motor prop.

I am sorry, the model is 698 and Gander Mtn. has it on sale for $374 with a rebate also. http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Humminbird-698ci-HD-SI-Chartplotter-Fishfinder-Combo&i=770809&r=view

I bought a Hummingbird 898 SI unit from Overtons for that price. I don't know if they still have any. Good pic, Side and Down scan with chirp sonar. GPS and base map. I like it better than my Lowrance HDI 5. Its chip capable for advance mapping if you want to upgrade. Reasonable sized puck too, not some goofy foot long one that sticks out like a tail off your boat.

I don't think they are from outer space, more like hell.