Stings

I usually ride with gloves and jacket, mesh jacket in summer, but yesterday did not wear gloves. Of course if the bike went down my hands would get scraped up good but I was willing to take the risk. What I was not thinking about though was how the open sleeve of the mesh Jacket, usually covered up by the gloves, would act as a catcher for any insect in my way.

Its hard to keep your wits about you when you are being repeatedly stung going down the road at 70mph with no place to pull off, all you can do is pound the area that is being stung hoping you will crush the bug, all the while controlling the bike. When I finally got to pull off I removed the mesh Jacket to find a yellow jacket crushed in the inside of the right sleeve.

Fortunately I don't react much to insect bites or stings and there was just a couple of small welts on the arm. I can't imagine anyone riding a motorcycle that is susceptible to anapylactic shock from insect stings.

Gotta wonder how many have crashed due to the distraction of an insect. We all hear about crashes due to deer and other large animals, but I will bet a large number of crashes are indirectly caused by insects. With my right hand on the throttle and my left handi pounding my right arm, that made an interesting swerving motion.

What an embarrasing way to die.

I'm allergic to wasp venom so that is a constant worry. About 20 years ago I was riding and had just flipped my faceshield open and took a yellow-jacket, aka spawn of the devil, into my left temple. I don't know how but I guess he didn't have time to inject any venom into the small groove that his stinger made next to my eye. It must have been his guts going through his brain at the time. Just a small bit of swelling around the scratch. I didn't freak out (yes, wasps are my phobia and I scream like a little girl around them) until after I had stopped and taken my helmet off.

Actually...it was a girl!

tdragger said:

I'm allergic to wasp venom so that is a constant worry. About 20 years ago I was riding and had just flipped my faceshield open and took a yellow-jacket, aka spawn of the devil, into my left temple. I don't know how but I guess he didn't have time to inject any venom into the small groove that his stinger made next to my eye. It must have been his guts going through his brain at the time. Just a small bit of swelling around the scratch. I didn't freak out (yes, wasps are my phobia and I scream like a little girl around them) until after I had stopped and taken my helmet off.

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All worker bees and wasps are non-reproductive females. The sting is a modified ovipositor. The males, very few to a colony, serve only to impregnate the queen(s) and thereafter die or are killed by the worker females. All bees, ants, wasps, hornets, yellowjackets and bumlebees are similarly female dominated societies with males playing only very limited and brief roles. Not macho but that's the way it is! AMAZON Warrior workers!!!

Had the same thing a few yrs back was riding around town with no helmet or jacket. Had a wasp fly up my short sleeve tee shirt and I had my shirt tucked in. The next thing I know is I'm being attacked by something around my waist that was in my shirt while I'm running down the road in town at about 45 mph in heavy traffic. The only thing I thought to do was grab and squeez. That stopped him from stinging me any more but the one that he got me with first was a good-un. I got stopped and pulled my shirt out of my pants to find a smashed red wasp. The experince hasn't stopped me from wearing a short sleeve shirt and riding but what are the chances that it could happen twice?

Big T

I have been stung several times while riding, always by bees or wasps going up my sleeves, but a couple of weeks ago I was riding home from work and saw a huge bug right before it hit my helmet. I didn't think anything of it until I parked the bike and took off my helmet and a big ol' bumble bee flew out.

Last season I was on my way back in to town with the wife on the back and watched this monster wasp get tossed in the air turbulance at the top of the windshield only to catch on the top of my sunglasses. Bastard nailed me three times in the eyelid and was going for a fourth when I finally managed to get rid of him. Took about 2 minutes to find room to pull off and stop, by which time I was swollen enough to be pushing against the lens.
Hurt like a mother squeezing gobs of venom out, but did get some (very rare) praise for managing to keep things level enough that she didn't know wnything was wrong.

Her!!! She stung yous!!!

These creatures are all female. You all keep thinking of these insects in a male context which is an error. ALL STINGING BEES, WASPS, HORNETS AND THE LIKE ARE FEMALE!!!! Males do NOT possess stingers!

Bloody *****es every one of them I very seldom wear glooves and have never been stung and we have some pretty big FEMALE bugs in Florida, now having said that I will probably get stung to bits this weekend

This is precisely why I wear Paul Stanley signature anti-bee sting gloves. Not only are they functional, but they look great as well.

That is exactly why I QUIT wearing fingerless gloves.Them little "*****es" fly up under one of the fingers and you cant get em out.So If I go down and get road rash atleast its not from a bee getting stuck under my glove and stinging me.