NOS88

But, no. It appears I'm destined to live my remaining years with limited cognitive abilities and decision-making capacity.

On my ride yesterday a bee lands on the front of my thigh just a wee bit too high up and close to the inside of my thigh where things are really sensitive. The darn thing stings me. I slap and pound at my leg trying to get the bee before it stings me again, lose my balance and topple over like Artie Shaw on a tricycle, and get stung a second time for all my efforts. This morning I awake with two hives from two stings and a massive bruise the size of a softball from where I was trying to kill the bee. I can just see my family turning their heads away pretending they haven't a clue who this idiot is.

Mojo Slim

No pictures?

JanMM

This thread would be a lot more fun with video of the actual event!

We feel your pain..........not really...................

Does ice help the bruise much?

George

It hurts just thinking about. I read where onion juice or tobacco juice will help it heal faster. I'm not to sure it will work this late though. Anyhow you made me smile, heal soon.

deraltekluge

Artie Shaw

jppe

50+ er's must be sweeter. I had a bee fly into and down my jersey on a long descent on the Blue Ridge Parkway last weekend. I could see the passengers of cars coming towards me chuckling as I was jerking my jersey from top to bottom trying to get that rascal out of there. I'm just glad they're still out there doing their job!

Skipper

Artie Johnson. Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In.

Tom Bombadil

In the past 2 years, I've only ridden with someone else 3 times. One of those occasions was a few miles with my neighbors. During that ride, a bumblebee flies down the back of the woman's shirt and stings her. At that point everything went into slow motion.

She tries to reach around to swipe the bee away. She slows down to about 1/3rd of the speed she had been moving. She slowly crosses the path in front of me, traveling about 50'. Then she goes into a panic & squeezes her front brakes hard. Her rear wheel slowly rises, at a rate that seems too slow to be real. Then she topples over the front handlebars and lands face first onto the dirt path.

I've never seen anything like it. She was moving so slow that it seemed impossible for her to go over the handlebars, yet she did. On the way home, her husband told me that he had the same impression.

She had a number of scrapes, plus the bee sting. I had some first aid cream for scratches in my bag and her husband helped to clean her up.

I guess it is hard to maintain one's control and balance while a bee is stinging you.

NOS88

Yeah, wrong name. I better check the helmet for damage too.

forresterace

Sorry, one other small discrepancy that I'm surprised that no one else picked up on - bees can't sting twice.

JanMM

Doesn't say what kind of bee. Honeybees are once only but bumble bees are good for more than one.
We really need a photo of the bee in question to get this figured out!

1bluetrek

Easy mistake @ 20 mph, a yellow jacket more than likley. But between the speed, the swatting the pain and the get-off, I think we can forgive the mistake

Louis

Glad you suffered only minor damage in the crash.

When I get a bee in my jersey or helmet - first I try to not freak out, then I pull over and slowly pull up the jersey or remove helmet. I still get stung sometimes, but so far I've managed to keep the bike upright.

Pat

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) can not sting twice. They have barbed stingers which stay in the wound once the stinging is done. Stings are modified ovipositors so all stings are done by females (a bit of trivia for you). He might have misidentified the insect so it could have been a wasp and they can sting twice. I can understand the mis ID. It is rather hard to get a decent ID whilst riding a bike and being stung. Also there are other kinds of bees other than honey bees and I would not be suprised if some of them might be able to sting repeatedly. You can easily tell wasps from bees because bees have divided hairs on their thorax. But you have to get a really close look at them (usually with a dissecting microscope).

I have been stung about 8 times over the years. I have never crashed because of it. The trick of removing the insect is to brush them off. Pounding at them is not a really good idea as the anecdote would suggest.

stapfam

I am a country boy and I will let all sorts of insects crawl over me without panicking. Bees are not a problem- unless they are swarming- and even wasps do not really bother me. But something landing in the nether regions and stinging me would make me take the unthinkable route of panic. Whether the action I take would be a good idea or not- I do not know but fear of another sting in the same area would make me attempt anything to make certain it did not happen.

Luckily- The only bee stings I have had were not in a vital area. But a loud buzzing next to the scalp when a "Bee" get in the vents of the helmet makes certain that the helmet comes off very fast. Good job the bee did not get inside the OP's shorts.

Tom Bombadil

D*mn yellow jackets can sting you as many times as they feel like it.

cyclehen

He was so funny. I always think of that sketch when I tip over due to idiocy

NOS88

It was, in fact, a yellow jacket. When I grew up, if it had a stinger and wings, we called it a bee...

howsteepisit

The Yellow Jackets can ideed do some damage. I have found just garb and fling works well, as my panic seems to speed up my reactin to the attack.

John K

Artie Johnson was the guy on the tricycle. Artie Shaw was a band leader.

oilman_15106

At least you did not repeat my mistake in trying to get a bee to leave. Full 180 over the front bar. My shoulder is still messed up a year later. Only 10 mph crash but slow crashes are always the worst.