bee stings!!

**ManDownUnder** · 11th January 2006, 07:23

Yeah they're exciting all right. I rode through a swarm years ago... I had no idea what it was til the last second.

The oval "shape" was in really soft focus and I was riding towards it. It was surreal like an image in the tv where they really finely pixellate out the face of someone to the point you can see it's a face, but have no chance of recognising it.

Anyhoo - I was lucky enough to realise what was going on and flipped down the visor and ducked down behind the fairing of the GPz550 I had at the time... straight through 'em without a sting! I heard them rattling off the lid and bike for 1/2 a second then all clear

Blardy lucky and highly memorable.

**Flyingpony** · 11th January 2006, 07:32

Reading all of these posts make me think I'm lucky, very lucky.

Worst insect incident in the past 4 years was last year when a blow fly hit helmet below the visor and proceeded seconds later to do the fly dance inside the helmet.

Also frequently commute with visor up. Haven't had any bugs in the eye, just dust.

**snuffles** · 11th January 2006, 08:28

not pleasant, had one stinng my face ..... buy christ it hurt

**Madmax** · 11th January 2006, 08:38

had a bee hit my helmet while riding at a highly illegal speed, the bugger
hit right on the top vent and broke it off didnt notice till i stoped for gas

**Finn** · 11th January 2006, 08:55

Originally Posted by Waylander

Had one catch me right on my adams apple once. Hurt like fuck and couldn't talk for a few days.

Mate, you should ride a bit faster then!

**yungatart** · 11th January 2006, 09:03

Had a bumble bee sting me in the neck once- it burned like acid and was sore, itchy and swollen for a couple of weeks. Must have looked hilarious when it happened tho. I was pillion on MSTRS's bike, we were with about 10 other bikes. I tapped him on the leg and asked him to stop- he says "yeah seen him already", thinking I'd said cop! MSTRS was leading the pack, he finally got the mesage and pulled over- everyone else does too. I leap off the bike, strip off jacket and start pouring water down my neck-ended up looking like a wet tshirt competition on highway 2. Got very strange looks from passing motorists for that one!

**S&S** · 11th January 2006, 10:54

Had a Bee wiz into my helmet while do about 60 with visor up, got stuck down the side of my helmet near my temple, I started thumping my helmet trying to squash the bastard before it stung me.... Boy was I wrong in trying that, next day swollen face & black eye from the sting!

**Momentum** · 11th January 2006, 11:12

I was working at a christian summer camp in the states last year.
was half asleep and rolled over onto a bee or a wasp and it stung me on the back.
Jumped up really F*$K that hurt. Woke the kids up OOPSY

Had to say sorry for my pottie mouth

**unhingedlizard** · 11th January 2006, 11:16

Originally Posted by Big Dave

They are cumulative too - some of it stays in your system and every one you get hurts more than the previous one - until it can become quite serious toxic shock.
I got one down the collar last week.

Thats not quite right. While some of the vemon stays in your system it disapates after about a week and you get used to them over time so they hurt less and less. Going from OK to having an anafalatic (sp?) shock takes years.

You can only get stung by a single bee once as well. the sting is barbed and the bee rips the sting and vemon sack out when it escapes. The vemon sack comtimues to punp vemon into you as long as the sting is stuck. Hot tip is to flick the sting out asap.

**yungatart** · 11th January 2006, 11:20

It does NOT take years to develop anaphylactic shock- can happen in the first or second incident if you are allergic to the substance.

**Waylander** · 11th January 2006, 12:15

Originally Posted by Finn

Mate, you should ride a bit faster then!

Should have seen me going up the Waikato side of the Kaimais yesterday. Bottom to top in under a minute.

**Motu** · 11th January 2006, 13:36

Took one in the eye a few years back,wearing my dirt helmet,the bee flipped under the peak and smacked my eye which I somehow closed in time.I was poleaxed on the tank,I damn near passed out with the pain.I scooped out liquid bee looking in the mirror,and the sting was in my eyelid,no way to get it out and I struggled home with one eye.It was really hard to get the sting out of the lid as there is no muscle tone,but we finaly got it out.I lay on the couch with an icepack and my wife gave me some homopathetics - I fully expected to look like elephant man the next day,but there was no swelling or bruising,no problems at all.

Way back,30 yrs and more ago,in seperate incidents years apart a couple of friends both ran into swarms in Coromandel,both were alergect to them and crashed as a result,one taking out a Landrover.Both on BSA singles.At one venue where we still hold trials in Wainui 2 years in a row we had bikes attacted by wasps,the bikes just had to be abandoned,the wasps were going for the bikes,not the riders.

**unhingedlizard** · 11th January 2006, 14:09

Originally Posted by yungatart

It does NOT take years to develop anaphylactic shock- can happen in the first or second incident if you are allergic to the substance.

should have been clearer, sorry. If your allergic to the venom it can happen real early.

Yeah wasps are real bastards. when they are after sometime you cant stop the buggers.

And waylander, thats impressive

**Karma** · 11th January 2006, 14:30

Aren't they attracted to the scent of a dead bee / wasp or something?

I was always told to make tracks if a wasp stung you as the smell would attract others who would also try and sting you.

Could be the bikes smelt of wasps they had hit, so the others went for them as well?