I made a thread about this a few weeks ago. Had a bee get stuck in my EAR when I was going about 20-22. Had to slam on the brakes and swat him out of there. Was about 10 miles into a 45 mile ride, and my ear was throbbing for another two days or so.

I've gotten 5 in a week. Consider yourself lucky

http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/4...tion6oz195.jpg

The cigarette/heat idea is a bunch of bunk. If you have a reference, please provide, otherwise, bad idea. Sounds like another, I read it on the internet remedy.

Not a bee luckily, but yesterday a tiny beetle, about twice the size of a pinhead, got into the corner of my eye, between the eyeball and crease of the lids. He was starting to bite or scratch by the time I got him out. Pretty painful and still stings today at times.

My helmet mirror really came in handy that time, I probably couldn't have gotten him out without the mirror to see him.

Actually I learned that trick in the late 70's way before the internet. I was at a folk festival itching like crazy from all the bites I had accumulated that day. Guy sitting a few feet away noticed, lent me the butt he was smoking and told me what to do. Worked like a charm. He couldn't explain why it worked but told me he was an outfitter/guide and had learned it from another guide. Since then he'd used it 100's of times on himself and clients whilst in the back country-never failed.

Years later when I was in law school our faculty was playing softball against the med faculty. After the game I noticed one of the doctors was sitting in his car holding the cigarette lighter near his upper arm. I guessed what he was doing and asked why it worked.

When you get bit or stung foreign proteins are left behind; in the saliva of spiders, in the venom of bee stings, and from the anti-coagulant mosquitos inject to keep the blood flowing. The body recognizes those as invaders and the immune system sends histamines to the site to battle them. It is the histamines that actually cause the swelling and itch. Heat breaks up protein and once the invaders are gone the body stops producing histamine.

"AFTER BITE" pens use chemicals to neutralize the invaders or you can buy electronic do-dads that work the same as a butt or car lighter:

http://www.shop.com/Itch+Soother+for...60946-p+.xhtml

^^^ Not sure what the guy was smoking back then, but the heat might shift your focus from the sting, but won't break down the proteins like you suggest. This anecdotal advise is a bit risky to suggest to others. Again, if you have any published info on this, I'd like to see it.

When it comes to bee stings, I'd suggest the following:
Scrape out the stinger with a card, knife or a long fingernail as mentioned earlier. That's about all you can do during the ride. If you're at home, rub a wet aspirin on the sting to help neutralize the inflammatory agents in the venom and helps to reduce pain and swelling. Apply a paste of meat tenderizer and water to the sting to break down the protein.

or you could just take some Benadryl (anti-histamine pills)

If a bee finds its way into my mouth, its gonna get eaten.

Just sayin.

goggles?

UVEX makes some pretty nice stuff...

I use their Tactical ones on the Harley...

My grandfather had honey bees in Greece where my father grew up. He told me they used to cut an onion and when the juices start flowing they would rub that on the sting (after taking the stinger out).

As for googles/glasses that seal against your face I use Wiley-X sunglasses. http://www.opticsplanet.net/wileyx-eyegear.html
I have two pairs of the Air Rage ones. I keep one with clear lenses for night rides and the other with bronze lenses for day. The foam seals snap in and out and I wash them after every ride.
These lenses are also supposed to be shatterproof...

Yes, but "killer" africanized honey bees are only deadly when in swarms (unless your allergic). They are more aggressive but a single bee isn't a big deal.

Two years ago a friend and I were riding on Stock Island along Rt. 1 in Florida. He had just finished giving me his usual "Why I Should Wear A Helmet" speech when we passed through a swarm of whitetail wasps. Never saw the buggers till we were into them. Several bounce off my body but none sting me. He traps many in his helmet, gets stung repeatedly, and crashes aside the road after doing a 90 degree with the front wheel and bending everything useful for riding. I got off and ran back, did all the things you do for a pal who is now screaming like a small child.

After we sorted him out, I counted 11 various stings along his helmet edge and above his ears. He is a Navy officer and wears his hair short. For two days his naval hat would not fit. We still laugh about it. And he doesn't yap at me about helmets anymore either.

Old Town

never been stung by a bee but here we have those june bug things... been nailed 3 times in the forhead with those suckers. See em coming at the last minute, and they are like freaking rocks. I hate em. Im actually suprised i havent been stung with all the bees around here to pollonate the Cherry trees around here.

Well there's this from one of the makers of the electronic devices-

http://www.buyatherapik.com/Therapik...calStudies.htm

Then there are studies that show heat application works for stings from sea creatures - I assume that the principles would be transferable to insect venom/protein as well since it's thought the heat denatures the toxins-

"venomous toxins are often large molecular weight proteins and many are heat labile, which provides opportunity for therapeutic intervention. Heat therapy may denature the toxins, and provide immediate relief of pain in coelenterate and venomous fish envenomations." from:

http://www.springerlink.com/content/y62338w20r742273/

Also a study looking at hot water immersion-

"So how might HWI or heat application work as a treatment marine envenomation? Two theories have been proposed.7,9,28,38 Marine venoms consist of multiple proteins and enzymes, and there is evidence that these become deactivated when heated to temperatures above 50 °C.19 A long‐held view is that deactivation of these heat labile proteins by direct heat application leads to inactivation of the venom. Carrette et al investigated the effect of temperature on lethality of venom from Chironex fleckeri. They showed that at temperatures over 43 °C, venom lost its lethality more rapidly the longer the exposure time. However, no significant loss of lethality was seen after exposure to temperatures less than 39 °C.39 The theory of deactivation has been questioned by authors who contend that such direct inactivation would require temperatures so high as to result in burns and tissue necrosis in the patient.14,38 An alternative theory is that HWI causes modulation of pain receptors in the nervous system leading to a reduction in pain

....

There is only a single recorded case of significant thermal burn from over 200 cases of the use of HWI.4 This treatment modality appears to be safe when used sensibly. It is an inexpensive, and as there is reasonable evidence that it can relieve pain after a variety of types of fish sting. ... Our advice is to use the highest temperature that can be applied safely and that is tolerable."

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/art...?artid=2579537