A close encounter with Killer Bees (or Honey Bee)................

[Kelley (Texas)]

What a beautiful day for a relaxing ride on the bike exploring the back roads of the Texas Hill Country...it was sunny and the temperature was approaching 70 degrees. I ate a sandwich, filled the thermos with coffee, and threw the camera in the saddle bag...I was in hog heaven. I flew up Nacogdoches Rd and turned west on FM 3009...I was on my way!

Up near Starksville, Texas, I spotted an old Bar-B-Q ice house that looked like it had been out of business for many years. It was weathered and had a rusty metal roof that you could still faintly see "Bar-B-Q" painted on the roof. It was down in a small valley from the road, setting among some huge Live Oak Trees. I decided to take a picture and pulled off the farm to market road...this was going to be a picture that you folks would enjoy seeing. I took the camera out of the saddle bag and pushed the "on" button...nothing happened. I pushed it again, nothing happened! A sick feeling came over me, the batteries were home on the charger...in my haste to head out of town, I had forgotten to put the batteries in the camera. Well, next time I head this way, I will take this picture, just have to remember to put the batteries in the camera.

I got back on the bike and decided to go to a small rest stop about six miles away near Satterly, Texas...I would drink a cup of coffee and regroup. I would put the camera battery incident behind me and just enjoy riding these beautiful back roads.

A few minutes later I pulled into the rest stop. I grabbed the thermos of coffee and headed for a picnic table...this area was so peaceful! As I drank my cup of coffee, I noticed the birds chirping in the trees and watched other birds eating bugs in the grass. I also saw lots of bugs and some bees around the area...like I said, it was a warm and sunny day. I finally finished drinking the coffee...break was over.

Canyon Lake was only a few miles away, so I decided that was where I would go, ride around the lake and see if anyone was catching some fish, maybe watch some folks sailing their sail boats, just have some fun. Unfortunately, that was not to be...shortly after pulling out of the rest stop, as I got up to speed, something walked across the face shield of my helmet. All of a sudden I realize that the "something" was a bee! I quickly flipped the face shield up and looked for a place to pull off the road. I spotted a gas station and quickly pulled into the parking lot and stopped near the gas pumps. I almost fell while dismounting from the bike, and was yanking the helmet off at the same time. As I stood there slapping my helmet, I heard a little girl tell her mother, "look at that funny man." As I continued slapping the helmet trying to get the bee out of there, the little girl said, "what are you doing mister?" I glanced at her and told her that I was trying to get a bee out of my helmet. I noticed that the mommy was laughing as she was putting gas in their station wagon. The little girl then said, "how did it get in there?" I told her that I did not know how the bee got in the helmet...at this stage of the game, that little girl was being a pest and her mother was laughing so hard that I really do not know how she could put gas in their station wagon without spilling gas all over the parking lot. I quickly walked away from them and went over to an ice machine in front of the station. I looked inside the helmet and did not see the bee...really did not know where it had gone. I put the helmet back on and left that station as fast as I could...that little girl's mother was inside the station paying for her gas and several people were looking in my direction, all laughing. Well, I decided that maybe it was best to just come home and relax and try again tomorrow...with batteries in the camera.

As I entered my neighborhood, I heard a buzz sound in my helmet. I came to a screeching halt, yanked the helmet off, looked inside it but could not see a bee. I strapped the helmet to the bike and rode the last two blocks to the house without wearing the helmet. As I pulled up into the driveway, Debbie and our neighbor Julie were in the front yard. They started to get on my case for riding the bike without a helmet, but I immediately told them to back off, that I had been wearing my helmet. It was a big mistake telling them about the bee...they best cut me some slack and stop laughing. At this time, the helmet is setting on a table out back of the house and it is going to stay there all night. If the bee is still in there, maybe it will die when it gets cold tonight. I looked again and can not find that bee, surely it has gone away! Please have a great day! Kelley (Texas)

 

[ojm bc]

of when I had a small putt putt motercycle,I was going up a inclined hill.When suddenly a huge dog growling came hurdling toward me,I stepped up the gas to get away,no such luck.The dog took a small chunk out of my leg.Had to get a few stitches and avoided that road for a long time.I hope one day to buy a cruiser type bike it really sounds like fun. oj

 

[Royal]

they have a habit of swarming on a dark object at night, you know they like the warmth. The inside of your helmet is not dark is it Fred? You might have a swarm of them inside it tomorrow morning. They will be hard to see too. Sometimes they will just find a crack or cranny to snuggle into or even eat a tiny hole and stack themselves in the padding.

Not to worry though because the best way to get them out is to just put the dang helmet on and go for a ride. The viberation might upset them but those honey bees bites are not as bad as the African bees. Come to think about it, you folks have those killer bees down there don't you? Well go for a ride and they will eventually fly out of the helmet! You might hardly get stung,,,,too many times!

You never did say Fred but what color is your helmet? I remember reading a study on those Texas Killer bees and it said they are attracted by most colors with the exception of pink. They seem to be afraid of Pink. What I would suggest you do is have the helmet painted pink, maybe a real light pink and throw in a few red dots. That would be pretty too!! Manly you know!! Debbie would probably be happy to die the inside lining a pink color too so you can leave it out at night and the bees will not hide in it!!

These are just thoughtful suggestions from one friend to another.

 

[Sunny]

for R & R that you wanted. You probably had a honey do list at home that you did not complete, therefore, deep down in your subconcious you could not enjoy your day! Just get that helmet painted pink, get the honey do list done, put your batteries in your camera and give it another shot. I will be anxiously awaiting the results of your "do over" ride of the backroads leading to Canyon Lake!

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

In regards to the helmet, I am not going to paint it pink. I checked on it a few minutes ago with a flashlight and there does not seem to be any bees inside it. Please have a great day! Kelley (Texas)

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

After I finish doing some chores tomorrow, I am going to ride those back roads again...but I am not going back to that rest stop. Like I told Royal, I am not going to paint that helmet pink. I must confess that I have been tempted to paint the helmet John Deere green or yellow...I have some John Deere decals that I would like to put on the helmet. Please have a great day! Kelley (Texas)

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

You need to write a story and tell us more about that dog that bit you...I think it would be a neat story. How many stitches did you have to get? What ever happened to that dog? Please have a great day! Kelley (Texas)

 

[ojm bc]

.....I looked for the owner but was not able to find,it was just a 75 cc bike to slow to out run the dog.I will try to come up with a bike story someday. oj

 

[Rob/Windsor Ont.]

n/t

 

[Micheal_R]

It went... "You can tell the happy cyclist.... he is the one with bugs in his teeth" Or something like that.

Maybe it went "If you aren't bleeding, you aren't having fun"

Anyway, good story. No bees, wasps, or any critters up here. They would have to fight their way through the ice and snow to survive.

Fair winds

Mikie

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

I wonder where your bees and wasps go during the winter? I really am not bothered by bees as long as they do not fly through the window of my pickup truck or get into my bike helmet. I still can not figure out how it got in my helmet. Please have a great day! Kelley (Texas)

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

do not fly through my pickup truck window or get in my bike helmet. When I was a boy, in the summer we often went barefoot and once in a while when walking through a clover patch, we would step on a honey bee...it hurt! Wasp and Yellow Jackets would live around the barn or stock trailers and once in a while one of them would sting you. Please have a great day! Kelley (Texas)

 

[Rob/Windsor Ont.]

n/t

 

[VT Dave]

they usually bought it before they got there! You don't suppose it got inside while it was sitting around?

 

[Wayne in BC]

glad you got off easy, i wrecked a car once when a hornet came through the window and stung me. not much hurt but my pride that time, if that had been a motorcycle

 

[Ron J]

time felt something hit my chest, next thing something was in my shirt! Started feeliing the area, and new something was buzzing! I sqeezed what ever it was, with my fingers,while trying to pull over as quick as possible,and not dumping the bike. Undid the buttons,after removing my vest, and removed the Yellow Jacket, before i got stung. The second time, i felt something hit my head, just between my Sunglasses,and helmet. Didn't pay too much attention,till i felt i moving towards the inside of the helmet, again pulled over as quickly as i could, pulled of the shades,and helmet,and removed a Yellowjacket that was partially caught in my hair! Both times, forunate enough not to get stung! Wait till you get hit by a bumblebee!

 

[Dan-MO]

I don't like them stinging varmits! Last summer I was driving my truck with the window down when a red wasp came thru the window and flew down the back of my shirt! He stung me 3 times before I could get stopped and rip my shirt off...nearly wrecked the truck too! I hates em.

 

[AuzeeSheila]

Here in Australia we have a specie of paper wasps which, although small, attack by the swarm when disturbed. Recently, I was out trimming the hedge in the front yard with an electric trimmer, when all of a sudden I was swarmed by these wasps. They attacked the back of my left hand and between the fingers and, somehow, while trying not to do a war dance for the whole street and passing traffic, I didn't let go of the trimmer and promptly cut through the electric cord. The circuit breaker cut the power and, after dropping the now silent trimmer on the ground, I headed for the garage, while madly pressing the remote control to open the garage door. It took me a couple of minutes of vigorous button pressing before I realised that, without power, I was locked out of my house. My daughter, who had been helping me, was outside with me and had also conscientiously locked the only gate which would have allowed us access. I am 60 yrs old - 152 cms (5ft 2in ) and I certainly didn't feel like climbing a 6ft fence and certainly wouldn't allow my daughter to try it as she is disabled and balance isn't one of her strengths. Stuck out in the front yard and not one neighbour within cooee was home. No money, no cell phone, no painkillers and certainly no tears . . .yet! Only option was the forementioned gate which had a Yale lock about midway up and a bolt (into the floor) lock at the bottom. Did I mention that this was a Lattice work gate? No? Well, yes it was . . . and somehow I got my throbbing left hand through one of the gaps between the lattice and undid the Yale lock . . . things were looking up. Except the bolt lock was about 9inches down from the lowest horizontal space that I could get my hand through. Eventually, with a lot of wiggling and twisting, I hooked a finger around the button (picture the lock buttons on old cars) on the bolt and reefed it up. Charged into the house and, after applying lotion to the stings, tried to reset the circuit breaker which wouldn't switch on for me. Went back outside to the trimmer and deplugged it and then rang husband at work, on board ship, to get instructions. As I never ring him at work unless it's an emergency, as soon as he saw the home number, he panicked. Then he almost had a nervous breakdown when I told him what had happened. Anyway, I got the power on again, and now the hedge needs trimming again . . .let's see . . will I . . . or won't I?
AuzeeSheila.

 

[Sunny]

women on this forum since I am the only one that is a regular,and these guys pick on me all the time. In reference to your bees, I hope you got everything under control. It's a good thing you were not allegic to the bee stings, since it took you a while to get things sorted out. Don't you just hate to call the hubby over stuff like this???

Anyway, glad to see you on our forum, it's full of wonderful caring people, and some of my best friends, even if they do give me a hard time, I can usually hold my own! Stay tuned, and let us hear more about you!

 

[WillyP]

n/t