Well, I was doing about 20+ mph on a slight down grade after the last of the climbs, about 20 miles into a 36 mile fast paced loop ride today. I was pushing kind of hard and looking more down than up on a very deserted road when something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. It was a split second of very fast movement and the next thing I knew something slammed into the side of the inside of my mouth. I thought daymn, was that a Bee? Yes, my mouth must have been wide open………

By the way, live bees feel kinda fuzzy when they are bouncing around in your mouth.

I jerked my head to the side and tried to expel the little guy before he had a chance to lock and load. The maneuver did not go as planned, he wedged his little black and yellow self between my lower lip and my gums and proceeded to go all hari kari on me. He left the business end of his hind quarters in the soft tissue inside my lower lip before I successfully launched him to the side of the road in a wad of spit.

It took about a mile of riding before I was able to find and pull the stinger out. I have no idea why I did not stop, I guess it never occurred to me. I just slowed down and kept pedaling

The ride home was about 14 more miles with only one little store about 2 miles away. I got to the store, bought a cold water and asked for some ice after I told the clerk what happened. He said, “no problem”. However, he then felt obligated to first tell me a very detailed and loooong story about his uncle getting stung. This story, mind you, came before he went for the ice! Included in the story were tales of grape growing in the middle east, how exactly that is done, what the uncle is like, stingy, how his aunt said he should ……..Well, it went on and on and I thought it was never going to end as I felt my lip getting bigger and bigger.

Mercifully the story did end and the ice arrived. About 5 minutes of ice and I was ready for the 12 mile ride home. I had a nice tail wind and made great time, there are no stops or even turns almost the entire way, just the deep blue Pacific Ocean on my right as I rode. Amazingly enough there was no pain and almost no swelling when I got home. I felt pretty lucky about that.

Upon hearing my epic tale, my 4 year old granddaughter matter-of-factly informed me that the bee must have thought my mouth was the entrance to its hive…………Hell, it works for me.

Oooowwwwww!

I've had and swallowed many bugs in my mouth, but I've never been stung by a bee INSIDE!!

Aaarrgghh

Have not encountered a bee yet since I started riding in April '11, other flying insects, yes, but no bees. My lip hurt just reading the story.

Oh, that must hurt so bad. It's pretty amazing that you kept riding during the whole thing!

Two weeks ago, as I was riding home from work, something stung me on the side of my face. All I heard was a buzzzz, and then it felt like someone jabbed a burning hot pin in left jaw. I was very glad there were no cars along side of me because I wobbled a bit, and then pulled over onto someone's lawn.

you are one tough SOB

I wonder if the intense riding helped dissipate the venom

I got stung on the back of my tongue while riding my bike as a kid. Been stung many times since, sometimes with swelling, sometimes not.
Stung twice on my thigh at the same time one day, later on that ride while descending a bee hit my glasses and broke apart and part of it went into my eye.
Riding a loaded touring bike with a cliff to my right and a gravel truck a few inches to my left I felt that burn and looked down to see a bee stinging my arm but I couldn't even reach over to flick it away until the damn truck was passed.

A couple weeks ago I was in the yard with my cat and a bee flew near him. He reached up and grabbed the bee with his claws and it stung him. He hopped away shaking his paw which later swelled up to almost twice it's size.

I had a similar incident, although not on a bike, I was on a ladder about 15' in the air and a bee flew out a small hole in my eves, flew right in my mouth and stung me in almost exactly the same place as I spit it out. Unfortunately I DID swell up and had a LOT of pain. I damn near fell off the ladder and caught myself on the way down, that was one of the diciest situations I have ever experienced.

Bezoar story.

You need that toothpaste for bikers--------------bug out!!!

I once had a similar situation. A bee flew into my mouth, but this guy stung me on the tongue immediately.

My tongue went up like a balloon, and for 3 days I could not talk and could only consume things that came through a straw.

Yikes! No fun.

I'm lucky, I’m one of those that has only minor swelling and never had much pain associated with my many bee stings over the years, other than that initial stick of the stinger.

I’m sure that is why I did not stop pedaling. It’s not that I’m so tough; rather, it is really that my body has very little reaction to the sting.

My brother got stung in the throat once. His coworker looked over and saw him grabbing his throat unable to speak and assumed he was choking. The coworker started doing the heimlich on my brother which forced my brother to have to wrestle himself away on top of trying to deal with the bee sting. Spent the afternoon in the ER after that incident.

It wasn't funny at the time but now years later replaying the scene in my mind it makes me giggle.

That is kind of funny.......Your brother had to save himself from his rescuer.

I would have wrecked.

I guess we all need something like this.

I was thinking more along the lines of a beekeeper's helmet over the bicycle helmet...

Saliva contains a mix of what are called proline-rich proteins (PRPs). They are interesting molecules that should adsorb bee venom, although I don't think anybody has ever looked specifically for this. At least when I ride hard, my mouth dries out which would increase the concentration of these PRPs, so intense riding could be a factor in reducing the reaction.

OP, next time you might want to also get some aspirin, grind it up and put it on the site of the sting. Aspirin also adsorbs the venom and reduces the reaction. Yes, I've been a bee keeper for many years and have had my fair share of "gifts". Charcoal also works, but I wouldn't recommend that when the sting is in the mouth.

Is there a difference between adsorb and absorb?

[edit]

adsorb

/ćdˈsɔrb, -ˈzɔrb/ Show Spelled[ad-sawrb, -zawrb] Show IPA
verb (used with object) Physical Chemistry . to gather (a gas, liquid, or dissolved substance) on a surface in a condensed layer: Charcoal will adsorb gases.

absorb
to take up or receive by chemical or molecular action: Carbonic acid is formed when water absorbs carbon dioxide.

OK - got it

[end edit]

I got initiated into the "Bicyclists who have been stung while riding" club this past July 4th when a bee got trapped under the strap of my helmet. I still insist that I set a world record in coming to a stop and peeling off my helmet, but alas, the little sucker still had time to sting me. I then compounded the problem by not immediately halting my ride and seeking first aid, but instead finishing my ride. By the time I got home the site of the sting had started to swell, and eventually I developed a welt the size of a golf ball on the side of my face. It took two days for the swelling to go down.

I can only imagine how much worse it is to get stung inside of one's mouth. Getting stung on the tongue on in the throat poses an immediate, urgent danger, because any swelling can potentially block the airway. I am glad the OP did not suffer too much of a problem.

Aspirin? Good idea to put one or two in my seat pack.

I will say again, I feel very fortunate to be one of those folks that has almost no reaction to bee stings. Considering where it was, it could have been very problematic for someone who’s body responds differently.

Yeow! I got zapped in the chest through an unzipped jersey. I was descending at max HR and I thought I was going to seize up as the poison spread into a 6-inch circle of pain. I scraped the stinger out with a stick I found trailside. I'm not allergic but I think the HR plus the adrenaline rush is what made it so nasty. I can only imagine the added anxiety of getting in the mouth.

Well where I live they would have just given you a chaw of Redman tobacco for the sting in your mouth since tobacco is supposed to draw off the venom. Then you could just spit at them to keep the little buggars away. I've had many construction workers get a cigarette and peel the paper for the tobacco to apply to a bee sting and put a band aid over it so they could get back into the day. I do not endorse this or the chaw in any way form or fashion, ecccch!

Bill

Could have been worse--could have been a wasp or yellow jacket capable of multiple stings.

I think there are several commercially available bug guards that you can wear inside your mouth, and still breathe through.

I've been pretty lucky with bees this summer. None got in my helmet vents. Now that the days are getting shorter and I'm riding more around dusk, looks like I may have made it through without getting stung at least once.

Baking soda on the sting also helps.
Been stung on inner lip, thigh + had a bee 'walk' on my rearview mirror mounted on my glasses. Distracting to say the least!