# Bee truck broke down in Minneapolis



## Tom G. Laury (May 24, 2008)

Sheri can you send some pictures? I would like to see them changing out a tranny by the side of the road.

What you ned is another tractor pronto. Muy pronto they may have probs with a roadside installation,(?) it would be surprising if they didn't. Get another tractor and get home. Best wishes.


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## The Honey Householder (Nov 14, 2008)

Sheri, 
That is the worst. Transporting bees is the worst day of the year for me. 
Hope things work out,
Ron


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## Trevor Mansell (Jan 16, 2005)

Why cant someone just rent a tractor and the driver could just pick the trailer up at your place .


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## Sundance (Sep 9, 2004)

Sorry to hear that Sheri........ If I were closer......
I hope the bees fare well. Why didn't they have
sprinklers??


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## pahvantpiper (Apr 25, 2006)

Mid fifties...I bet you'll be ok. Good luck.


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## JohnK and Sheri (Nov 28, 2004)

Thanks guys.

I am a little shaky on the mechanicals, maybe it wasn't the tranny but a component of it that they said they could swap out on the road in an hour or so. Otherwise another tractor would have been an option. I guess they all figured that by the time they got another truck together they would be back on the road. They were about 2 hours away from us and I wanted to jump in the car and run over there but it wouldn't have helped any.
As for sprinklers, not that many trucks have sprinklers, we have never had a truck with them. Maybe we will demand them from now on.....
The truck got unloaded this morning. There are more dead bees on the deck than normal, but doesn't initially look as bad as I thought it would be. I took pics. What I am most worried about was some looked like the bees were piled up between the frames as you looked in the entrances, not a good sign. We won't really know until they go through them today just how bad it is. It is mid 20s here, cold enough here that they are pretty tightly clustered. I hope that is the reason they aren't responding stronger when I knock on the boxes.
Sheri


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

holly crap! thats not good at all
let us know how they made out


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## irwin harlton (Jan 7, 2005)

any insurance available for live bees in transit?





"And a great storm arose, and it became dark, The waves were driven higher by the powerful winds that blew across the sea, and Jesus had not yet come to them. Then, when they had rowed out about three or four miles on the rough waters, they saw him walking through the tempest, drawing nearer to their boat. Their hearts were gripped with the terror of the storm and the fear of the unknown. But on approaching Jesus said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." John 6:17-20


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## JohnK and Sheri (Nov 28, 2004)

The truck firm has insurance, but we've never had to test it. I hope we don't have to this time...... we should know more by this afternoon.
Sheri


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## Sundance (Sep 9, 2004)

Fingers are crossed........ insurance is never a
pleasant experience if you have to use it...


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## JohnK and Sheri (Nov 28, 2004)

Well, it is looking like we dodged a bullet yesterday. It must have been late enough and cool enough enough when the truck broke down. There was more than normal amount of dead bees on the deck, but it could have been much worse. If anything, they looked better than the loads from yesterday.
Whew, what a relief! Maybe looking into sprinklers next year.
Sheri


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

Good, had me nervous. Thought I might have to go up there and fix it myself.(I work on 10 dump trucks on the side)

Roland


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## JohnK and Sheri (Nov 28, 2004)

LOL, Roland, I wish you'd been riding shotgun on that load, we would have slept better. As it is, we are feeling very lucky and still looking over our shoulder....
people who ship bees know how it is to worry about bees on the road, we've all heard about those disasters.....
Sheri


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## BEES4U (Oct 10, 2007)

Did you drop a drive line?
Ernie


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## jean-marc (Jan 13, 2005)

I don't think that you'll have troubles with the bees at that temperature, even though it's nerve wracking.

Jean-Marc


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## Nick Noyes (Apr 28, 2005)

Sprinklers sound good but were to you get enough water to run them?


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

Nick Noyes said:


> Sprinklers sound good but were to you get enough water to run them?


Yeah, and sometimes the cheapest rate isn't always the best rate.


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## Skinner Apiaries (Sep 1, 2009)

Sheri, didn't yours leave Friday night? (Talked to Ryan Fri AM) Did ya'll use team drivers? We paid for team, and ended up with a single who got here monday night. He left 7 pallets... And wasnt over weight...


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Skinner Apiaries said:


> Sheri, didn't yours leave Friday night? (Talked to Ryan Fri AM) Did ya'll use team drivers? We paid for team, and ended up with a single who got here monday night. He left 7 pallets... And wasnt over weight...


What are you doing about those 7 pallets? I know someone who had to leave 8 pallets because of weight. Supposedly they were going to get on a short load back to NC. Obviously not yours.


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## JohnK and Sheri (Nov 28, 2004)

Sorry guys, been running.....
Ernie, they popped something off the shift column? Does that sound possible? I always get them mixed up with those pesky radiator belts.

Nick, ya wouldn't do much good on the roadside but if you get somewhere there's water.....

Keith, we've been using these guys for about 7 years, never have <serious> problems with them. Anyone's truck can break down.

Paul, 2 trucks went out Friday night, they got here Monday night unloaded Tues morn. 
The "break down" truck went out Saturday night, got here Tues night, unloaded Wed morn. Just one driver, pretty much shot, out of hours and asleep at the wheel when he got here after fixin on the truck half the night. He really wanted rid of them bees, lol. 

I am hoping we don't leave pallets out there, the first three were on the light side. If the last ones are much heavier than when they left Wisconsin, we'll be leaving some behind too. They are loading the last 2 out tonight. We got a couple cell call from out there that dropped, maybe trying to inform us of just that.


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## pahvantpiper (Apr 25, 2006)

Glad to hear things turned out OK. I got stopped in Yermo this year on one of my loads cause they found a moth larva. It was in the 60's. Kept me for a couple hours right in the sun. Bees were everywhere but they survived just fine so I figured yours would. Good luck!


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## hpm08161947 (May 16, 2009)

sqkcrk said:


> What are you doing about those 7 pallets? I know someone who had to leave 8 pallets because of weight. Supposedly they were going to get on a short load back to NC. Obviously not yours.


One of you Beesource guys is looking after them - took them up in the mountains I believe - hopefully we will get them next year...... we'll see.


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

Yep, gotta keep an eye on them radiator belts. They like to cause troubles, like muffler bearings. Maybe it was one of them faulty chrome plated ,fully accesorized shifters like in "Wolf Creek Pass" . At least the bees where not "stacked to 13'9" " 

Roland


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## runner_114 (Aug 31, 2009)

Roland,

quick tell me who sang that song,


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## BEES4U (Oct 10, 2007)

This is not your answer.
But it does have a nice beat and message.

A. A. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfYCcS1pE_I

Ernie


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## BEES4U (Oct 10, 2007)

This ones better:
Caroline..Pete's Truck and Trailer Repair
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3Yykon9tNk

Ernie


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

C.W.McCAll??


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## runner_114 (Aug 31, 2009)

Roland said:


> C.W.McCAll??


:applause: Off of his wolfcreekpass album Had it in 8 track tape andwore it out good stuff


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## BEES4U (Oct 10, 2007)

Wolf Creek Pass loaded with cluckers:
Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKGn1lDkR00
Ernie


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## suttonbeeman (Aug 22, 2003)

See post below....sherri my load fro CA got to got last week...bet there wasnt 500 dead bees....cool and wet all the way from ca to fl. Last year I could have filled a 55 gallon drum with dead bees. cool weather in 50's is great! 90 is a train wreck


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## suttonbeeman (Aug 22, 2003)

Sherri Youll be ok....I had tranny go out a few yrs back with 144 LARGE hives and forklift on gooseneck. Temp in 70's and took two hrs for wrecker. I put under sprinkler system unitl sundown and got another truck to pull trailer home next day (425) miles....lost very few bees


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## JohnK and Sheri (Nov 28, 2004)

Well, another nerve wracking situation developed on _another_ one of our loads heading home this year. The last semi out got held up at the Utah border. They were told they couldn't proceed without a fire ant pre-inspection, whatever that means. After a flurry of calls between brokers and truckers and inspectors they let them through, evidently no one else knew what that meant either, but for a while it looked like that truck would be taking a much more northerly route home. I have heard of Utah giving grief to trucks heading into almonds, but now's looking like it's on the way home too. And they have the nerve to call themselves the beehive state. :doh:

Sheri


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## suttonbeeman (Aug 22, 2003)

Hang in here sherri...If you want me to negociate with govt officials on your behalf let me know! lol you know my stories! (for the rest of you I'm NOT politically correct and some of my conservations have had very colorful language and very hard nosed approach to say the least!). I wonder if Utah was stopping campers that had been in CA and were going to STOP in Utah and have contact with the ground! Govt idiots!


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## JohnK and Sheri (Nov 28, 2004)

Rick, only you could get away with that kind of "negotiating", lol. I'd probably get arrested! 
Yeah, right on about the govt idiots. I am the first in line to agree we need laws and regulations but a little effort in hiring those enforcing them and a little thought into the regulations to begin with would be refreshing.
Sheri


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Trouble is that the one guy who knows what's what was probably off that day. This sorta thing happens at weigh stations all the time. So I imagine that Ag Inspection Stations are just as screwed up. One can drive from one end of Interstate 95, stop at all of the weigh stations and get different rulings on what is right in each state.


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## pahvantpiper (Apr 25, 2006)

The stupid thing about the fire ant pre-inspection is that they (California) won't even do it. They charge you a bunch of money, give you a certificate that says your clean, but don't take one look at the hives. This is par for the course though when it comes to government.


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## JohnK and Sheri (Nov 28, 2004)

Rob, that is exactly what they told me yesterday. We could get the paperwork next year if we thought we needed it, but they issue the paperwork without ever going near the bee yards. No inspection at all. Crazy.
Sheri


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## Tom G. Laury (May 24, 2008)

Rob : "Charge a bunch of money..." Really? For what? Here in Fresno county the fire ant guy with the county does the only thing he can, which is issue a statement that THE BEES ARE COMING FROM A LOCATION NOT KNOWN TO BE INFESTED WITH FIRE ANTS. This is the best they can do, there is no other mechanism or protocol for issuing any certificates of any kind. 
The RIFA people started doing this on their own in response to requests for something, any kind of paperwork the driver can stick out the window at a border. This is done free of charge and the location of the bees is cross checked with a map of RIFA infested areas therefore no field inspection is necessary. You best quit complaining about someone trying to help you out!


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## JohnK and Sheri (Nov 28, 2004)

We were told there was no charge, just needed to ask for it if we wanted it. And that they might have to start issuing them more regularly in response to "popular demand" by the State of Utah. I guess we weren't the only ones that had an issue.
Sheri
PS Why is it called a "PRE" inspection?


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