Barry2 

A bee stuck inside your helmet is extremely hard to just "leave them alone".
Most bees seem to take beeing trapped (pun intended) as an attack on their personal space!

Barry

rumrunn6

related?, fwiw - I use foam inserts for thermal protection when it gets colder

https://www.bikeforums.net/winter-cy...met-vents.html

zandoval 

And don't forget...
Epinephrine Auto-injector or other device and 50mg of Diphenhydramine if your really allergic...

rumrunn6

I'm not but good reminders

jamesdak 

?? This is just not realistic at all. I was never really allergic to bees until the last 5 years or so. I have several days of severe swelling after a sting no matter how much antihistamine I use. I'm not scared of bees or react weird when they land on me. Usually I'm stung before I know they are on me and it seems to be happening about 4 times a year here lately.

This was 3 days after a little sweat wasp got me right under my helmet on the forehead. I carry two Benedryl tablets in my saddle back and take those the moment I'm stung. This on top of my daily Allegro. I really feel for those more allergic than me.


Missed work the next day as I could hardly even open the one eye that's working in this shot.

livedarklions

After something like 30 years without a bee sting, this summer I was stung under the helmet and two weeks later stung on the lip, roughly at the same place on the path I ride after work. Bugs do get into the helmet from time to time, and if they're stinging bugs, it's kind of a 50-50 shot whether they will sting you.

Iride01 

Not realistic? I've seen more people stung by bees and wasps because they go crazy swatting and slapping at them and get them angry.

I'm fortunate enough not to be allergic to either. I've had a total of 2 bee stings in my entire life. Bees just aren't aggressive that way. I'd expect bees to not sting if left alone. Even when crawling around in your helmet trying to find a way out.

Wasp and yellow jackets are more aggressive, but in almost every case the stings I got from them were when I got into whatever it is they consider their personal space. But if left alone, even when they are on me, they'll usually just fly off eventually.

For those that are allergic, I realize you have to do what you have to do, but being aggressive yourself toward them is just asking for trouble. A large hairnet over the outside of the helmet seems a cheap solution. However that doesn't handle the gaps between the helmet and head. So if that is a concern, then the full head netting seems the way to go.

jamesdak 

LOL, some just don't get it. I've never flaked out or been aggressive to any bee or wasp. That has nothing to do with getting stung repeatedly each year here lately. It just happens. Several time inside or under the helmet, in the calves, and a couple of times in the upper leg when one is there and I don't know it until they get pinched and sting as I'm just pedaling along. Really has nothing to do with them being aggressive or not or me being aggressive or not, it just happens and is a real concern for some people.

Most of my hits happen within a 2 mile stretch of road were newer houses were built on farm fields and several of them have bee hives set up now. Luck of the draw I guess, LOL!

DangerousDanR

I have never had an insect sting me inside my helmet, but plenty of bites elsewhere. We had so much trouble with the Wee Midgies when we have ridden in Scotland. They are everywhere and they are agressive.

We bought some"Midgie Spray" that was made out of garlic, onion, citronella, etc. It is not a pleasant floral scent. It is not a dead animal scent. More of a sulfur scent. It worked great.

Maybe there is something similar that would work for bees and wasps. Maybe rub "Liquid Smoke" on your helmet and head?

livedarklions

I got two bee stings this year, and you're just wrong about the helmet thing. Bees sting when they're actually being attacked and/or trapped. My helmet bounces around a little bit on my head when I'm riding, so by the time I'm aware of the bee in me bonnet (ever consider the origin of that expression?), the bee is being repeatedly pressed between a relatively hard plastic surface and my scalp. I didn't have to do anything to provoke that sting, it's automated. I can't "leave it alone", I've accidentally trapped it.

As far as getting stung in the face, that happens pretty much instantaneously with hitting it midair--it reacts like you intentionally hit it. There's no flailing around, it's a slap on/from your face, then ouch. You don't even see the bug, let alone resist it.

I'm lucky, I'm unusually immune to the effects of bee venom, so getting stung in the lip resulted in very localized swelling that was gone within 2 hours.

genejockey 

I'm with those who wear a beanie under my helmet, because I got tired of putting sunscreen on top of my head. I worry a lot less about bees now, though I've never been stung under the helmet. I did get one in the mouth at 35 mph, though.

livedarklions

Wait, there actually are bees in the Beehive State? Who knew?

livedarklions

I was only doing about 20, but it really is a bit of a shock, ain't it?

rumrunn6

reminds me on a summer commute home, down a fast hill, thru a wooded area, near a river, & popular w/ dog walkers, a bumble bee hit my face & perhaps tried to sting my lip but I was lucky, in that it was a glancing blow & all I got was a tiny sensation. shortly after that, I felt something hit my bare left shin. I immediately swatted at it to get it away. but when I looked at my glove I saw that is was just some dog-doo that had been flung up by my front wheel

genejockey 

Not as bad as the June Bug to the forehead at 50 mph that I got years ago, driving my MGB with the top down on a warm summer evening.

livedarklions

OK, so what's the mathematical formula for figuring the pain of the heavier bug at 50 mph vs. the lighter, stinging bug at 35 mph?

Pain from kinetic energy vs. stinger.

rumrunn6

depends on the yaw & roll angles of the beast?

genejockey 

The worst part about the bee was it spattered across my teeth, and it did NOT taste good. Bleah.

The next worst thing was worrying about whether I'd developed an allergy to stings (no, I hadn't). I spent the next 20 minutes, repeatedly checking my lip for swelling (there was a little), and wondering whether it looked as huge as it felt (it didn't). Since it kept getting larger and felt numb, I kinda panicked and called my wife to pick me up. Since it would take her 30 minutes to get to where I was, I told her to meet me in a place it would take both of us 20 minutes to get to. So, OF COURSE, by the time I got to our rendezvous, it was feeling much better and I felt silly for having called her.

rumrunn6

wedding day, 30+ years ago, Wifey-to-be, has flowers in her hair, during the ceremony a bee takes interest & is trying to pollenate with them. she is completely unaware. the video tape is rolling however & records bridesmaid #1 attempting to swat but then realizes it would be better to scoop the bee with the floral bouquet she is holding in her hands. it takes a cpl of scoops but eventually she succeeds. the rest is history

genejockey 

Pain increases the closer the bugs direction of travel approaches directly opposite your own, as well as the speed at which it's flying, not to mention its mass. Larger beetles also get extra points for their hard carapace.

rumrunn6

is their a boundary layer of air protecting us?

hmmm r e d d i t blocked?

google: Why can I swat a flying insect with my palm using enough force to knock the average person unconscious and the insect flit away seemingly unharmed?

... must be Friday ...

5teve

Bees seem to find their way in through my helmet vents too often, just bad luck maybe. Getting stung in the scalp sucks! I have owned a few brands of helmets with a bug mesh in the front vents and I won't buy a new one without that or something similar. I bought a Bontrager Wavecell last summer for mountain biking and I have an old Uvex helmet for road rides that has a bug mesh in the front vents. It's pretty old, I could use a new one. Uvex is no longer in the U.S. market unfortunately, but two brands (they actually look like the same helmets rebranded) I've found that have a similar bug mesh are Serfas and Abus. Also, some Kali helmets have a mesh but not all of them. There are a few other brands I can't recall offhand-they're out there but not always easy to find.

Tomm Willians

Found a nice Abus on eBay and ordered it.

5teve

I'd be interested in your impressions when you get it and can try it out!

Bill in VA

I have never had a bee in the helmet, but I have had stinging insects get under my sunglasses and had wasps fly down my jersey neck and/or up the sleeve. A honeybee stings once and leaves the stinger, but wasp will sting again and again since it does not lose the stinger, and will sting until it runs out of venom.

I had a line of 6-8 stings across my shoulder or chest, with the welts and swelling getting less and less as it went. The all big shiny all black wasps and the white faced hornets were the worst. And then there are greenhead flies and deer flies that will draw blood. Those SOBs bite right through the jersey material.