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Hi Viz Yellow - A Bee Magnet?

kentuvman

kentuvman

New member
For the second season wearing my Aerostitch faded yellow jacket, I've been nailed by a big honking bee.

Last season, got stung 3 times in stomach by a yellow jacket and just this past Wednesday, 2 times in right arm.

In both instances, skin got super swollen and itchy.

Called urgent care and they suggested Cortisone 10 and Ibuprofen or Tylenol. Buying an extra tube to keep in my first aid kit.

Maybe I need to switch to another jacket color!
 
So if you were wearing the jacket, how did the bees get to your arms and stomach? When I first started riding I sometimes wore a button front shirt that gaped open in the wind. That definitely collected bugs.
 
I used to work for a company that manufactured large outdoor climb-on playsets for kids. It was well known (and obvious) that insects were drawn to the yellow pieces.
I too am alergic to bee stings. I try to keep Benadryl handy. Its the anti-histamine that works to reduce the reaction I have with the bee venom. Unfortunately my stock has been depleted and my foot is still swollen from being stung Thursday evening.
 
It all sounds good to me...when yer flappin' your hi-viz yellow arms around tryin' to get rid of those bees, that'll just make you all the more visible to those evil cage drivers all around you...
 
Bright colors similar to flowers in the area will draw the critters. I have had some circle around my red Joe Rocket mesh jacket in warm weather too. Fortunately the fairing takes care of the frontal assault when I'm moving.
 
Started wearing a new HiViz jacket with yellow panels this season and haven't had one bee commit suicide on me (Yet).

...But prior seasons, I wore a lot of red & black and was hit numerous times. Once a pair found their way into my full face helmet (Yes the face shield was down) and was a race between them and me. If I got to the shoulder and the helmet off first, then I won, if I didn't...well they won.

Personally I think I'm just a bee magnet and no matter what I wear, they and I will meet.
 
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Yarddog said:
It all sounds good to me...when yer flappin' your hi-viz yellow arms around tryin' to get rid of those bees, that'll just make you all the more visible to those evil cage drivers all around you...
Click to expand...

That's funny, I don't care who you are that is funny.
 
As a beekeeper, let me put this in perspective.

You get stung; the bee dies. Bees really don't want to sting anybody, but how would you feel if you're out doing your thing and someone smacks into you at 70mph? Might piss you off, huh? Is it worth dying over? Not to me, but obviously to the bee it is.

Unfortunately, the bee catches the blame for many a wasp's painful deed. If you get stung more than once by the same creature, it wasn't a bee. They only get one shot per. Wasp can sting multiple times.

Tom
 
From MARS said:
As a beekeeper, let me put this in perspective.

You get stung; the bee dies. Bees really don't want to sting anybody, but how would you feel if you're out doing your thing and someone smacks into you at 70mph? Might piss you off, huh? Is it worth dying over? Not to me, but obviously to the bee it is.

Unfortunately, the bee catches the blame for many a wasp's painful deed. If you get stung more than once by the same creature, it wasn't a bee. They only get one shot per. Wasp can sting multiple times.

Tom
Click to expand...

I've had both. The high speed bee impact on that tiny piece of exposed flesh and the "sneak" attack into my helmet. Listening to those two unhappy bees buzzing inside my helmet (which I also occupied at the time) was something that I will remember for some time.

Of course I will take a bee impact anytime over one of those large grasshoppers or locust with all the hard external parts. Or a bird!
 
Great Feedback.

From MARS said:
As a beekeeper, let me put this in perspective.

You get stung; the bee dies. Bees really don't want to sting anybody, but how would you feel if you're out doing your thing and someone smacks into you at 70mph? Might piss you off, huh? Is it worth dying over? Not to me, but obviously to the bee it is.

Unfortunately, the bee catches the blame for many a wasp's painful deed. If you get stung more than once by the same creature, it wasn't a bee. They only get one shot per. Wasp can sting multiple times.

Tom
Click to expand...

How cool is it that MOA actually has a Beekeeper member! I'm impressed! Thanks for the clarification - it seems I've been attacked by Wasps not Bees. In both incidents (wearing my Hi Viz Jacket and a short sleeve button up shirt, I was stung at least 3 times with a very severe reaction - swelling, itching.

I'll count my blessings my accidents are with them and not cars, trucks and large animals!
 
The last sting I had was most definitely a bee. I was riding my work bike, fairly slowly at about 15 MPH coasting to a stop light when I saw and heard something hit the windshield. The little bugger flipped up and over the windscreen and landed on the only exposed patch of skin I had showing between the cuff of my sleeve and gloves. Then she looked around and deliberately, with malice and forethought while staring me in the eyes, sat down impaling my wrist. BITCH!:mad

I am allergic to the stings. I was less than 4 miles from the nearest ER and was there in less than 6 minutes. In that time my wrist and arm swelled up from my knuckles to my elbow and I could hardly bend enough to twist the throttle. A very very large shot later and I started to delate but it wasted the entire day.:huh
 
I took a bee the other day. Lucky me! He took a hit on the mirror fairing and was apparently kaput. Somehow I found him under my jacket resting on my belly... NO STING! No complaints here either...

Olympia Hi Viz Jacket, Scorpion Hi Viz helmet... and I wouldn't have it any other way. YES, people do recognize me just by my helmet ;-)
 
As to the Bee dying after it stings you, there is a question about this in "Parade"
magazine, the one that comes with the sunday newspaper. If the Bee has a
barbed stinger, it will die after it stings something because of the injury to its
abdomen when the stinger is pulled off. Some Bees have a smooth stinger that
can be used many times with no injury. Some Bees have no stinger at all.
 
My wife has been chased by bees when wearing a certain bright yellow tee shirt. It's a bit more orange than the hi-viz color. Our four year old niece was witness to one such bee dance and thought it was hilarious!

I've caught a wasp or two in my open roadcrafter cuffs. Got stung both times trying to shake them out. On another ride I felt something hit me in the forehead. (Yes I had my helmet on) This small bee had somehow flown straight into the eyebrow vent hole of my RF1100. He landed on the inside edge of the chin guard and started to come to. I'm riding my RS and there's no way I can open the faceshield without him being blown in my face. While I waited for an opportunity to safely pull over to the side of the road, I can see this bee walking back and forth on the chin guard right in front of my eyes. Finally I get stopped, tilt my head forward and open the face shield, dumping the bee out. Whew!!

A poem taught to me by our local pastor many years ago....

The bee is such a busy soul,
he has no need for birth control.
And that is why in times like these,
there are so many sons of bees.
 
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At about 70 mph I hit a bee swarm! It was shocking just how hard each impact was. It was like a "B" bee horror movie; bee parts and guts covering every part of me and the bike. Yet, I did not get stung.
 
I drove through a swarm of bees many years ago at a relatively high speed on a CB400F. This was well before the days of ATGATT, I paid the price for not having a jacket or a helmet with a faceshield. Now I not only wear "most" of the gear, most of the time, but always wear a full coverage helmet with one kind or another of neck protection.

And does yellow attract bees? Oh yeah, every time I park my Gray/Mandarin R11S outside at this time of year it's surrounded by bees within minutes. The fly yellow Ducati 900SS/SP I had was even more of a bee magnet...with that bike I learned to make a careful inspection before saddling up. The red Duc 900 I owned previous to the yellow one seemed to attract fewer bees...

And one more bee story...about 35 years ago when traveling through downtown Carson City with my wife, a bee came in the window. It landed on her bright orange dress then went right down the front of it, as I quickly stopped the car she jumped out of the car and peeled that dress right off. She didn't get stung, but it was sort of...interesting!!!

Cheers! :lurk
 
I hit a bee going 60 mph on my motorcycle. How he could ride my motorcycle I'll never know.

(credit to Groucho Marx)

pete
 
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