Eriol

I was riding home today about 15mph when a bee flew down my shirt. Stung me three times, lucky I was only 2 miles from home and this happened on a fairly quite road (almost fell). I must have looked like an idiot running in circles throwing my shirt and stamping on it tring to kill the bee.
Maybe this is another good reason to get a jersey instead of a loose fitting T-shirt

sgtsmile

Another joy is sucking one into the helmet vents.... or getting one in your mouth.

N_C

You sure it was a bee? I thought bees could only sting you once unless it is a bumble bee, I think they can sting more then once. Wasps, hornets & yellow jackets can sting more then once too.

Around my area I have seen what I call blue wasps. They look like a wasp when they fly & an oversized ant when they walk on the ground. But I do not know if they can sting or not. In the south I have seen red colored insects that look similar, can they sting too?

sbhikes

At least you weren't riding a recumbent. I got one up my shorts last weekend. I gotta get me some of those recumbent shorts where the hem has an elastic drawstring.

jwc

A few years ago, I rode into a swarm of biting black flies.

Let me tell you, those suckers can fly as fast as you can ride. I didn't leave them behind until I rode out of the shade and back into the sun. It was also the last time I rode that route during the summer.

ken cummings

A bee nailed my tongue and I talked funny for the rest of the ride. The pain ended quickly but the swollen tongue lasted for hours.

Bluechip

My wife volunteered at one of the rest stops of a century that I was doing last year. After most of the riders had gone through she was finishing of can of root beer she had started earlier and was stung by two bees that had landed inside the can. She took a big gulp of root beer and got a quite a shock. One got her in the tounge and the other in the cheek. She still cringes at the thought of root beer.

illdoittomorrow

Bees all have barbed stingers; once they've stung you, the stinger remains stuck in the skin. the act of stinging you tears off part of the bee's abdomen, so it's a suicide mission for the bee

Wasps, etc., all have smooth stingers, so they can sting more then once. In general they're more aggressive and territorial than most bees as well.

I got stung on a ride once... I pulled the stinger out of the back of my neck without slowing down...

nelson249

The other day, I took a bee right inside the air vent of my helmet at 45 km/h. I managed to get the bike stopped in a real big hurry, rip off my helmet with the live insect stunned inside it. Oh boy, was it mad! I wound up chucking the helmet into the grass to get the thing away from me.

Tom Stormcrowe

If it looked like a bee but stung three timers, it was a Yellow Jacket wasp. Very painfull stings too, my condolences and congrats for not wiping out!

scottmorrison99

I was riding home Thursday night from a club ride in the next town over as the sun went down and had clouds of gnats fly toward my 30 watt headlight and commit gnat suicide all over me. You know how your wind shield looks when you hit clouds of them? That was how I looked. They taste pretty bland. I'll take gnats over bees any day.

Caspar_s

Pain is a really good teacher. My wife doesn't like the rack at the grocery store because she was stung by a wasp while locking up.

Eriol

I'm not exactly sure what it was, it definitly stung me three times. It was small ( a little larger than a fly) and had the traditional yellow/black strip pattern on its bottom. I saw it crawling inside my shirt before I carfefully ripped it off. I couldn't find the stinger in me, so maybe it was a baby bee?

jakub.ner

Ouch!

Last year a wasp got into my wrap around sun glasses. Stung me three times as well, twice in the nose and once in the cheek before I ripped the glasses off. Not sure what would have happened if it stung me in the eye lid. I still wear sun glasses, I think they deflect more bugs than cupture.

JohnBrooking

Ouch! I wouldn't think a cycling jersey would help, at least the kind with the zipper down the front, as having that open makes it pretty loose too. It least mine is, but I'm thin.

Reading these accounts makes me feel lucky. My first bee sting (after 4 years riding) was about two months ago, but it was just a single sting on my shin, and through blue jeans even! I think it must have just been crossing my path at exactly the wrong time and we were both surprised!