Sorry, I don't know if this is the appropriate location for this sort of thing, but I figured I'd give a heads up to people that there were some killer bees on the path up to Lakeside Pinnacle today. One bastard stung me 4 or 5 times on the way up and then gathered his buddies so I got swarmed by several of them on the way down. They chased me all the way to the bottom and across the road. I probably got about 15 stings in total. Pulled 3 stingers out of my arm, neck, and earlobe. There were a bunch of people climbing up there, though, and none of them complained, so maybe the bees thought my yellow shirt made me competition or something.

LOL!!!
You're funny man!
Been a while. So you're still in SA huh. You come right with transport yet? Will try give you a shout later. Headin out this weekend if you're keen?
Brad

Thanks for the information!

Impressive bee. Never heard of that happening before. His father must have been a wasp.

"Wasps and many bees can sting more than once because they are able to pull out their stinger without injuring themselves"


http://scienceray.com/biology/zoology/a ... and-wasps/
http://kidshealth.org/kid/watch/out/bee.html

"bumblebee can sting more than once. Unlike its cousin the honeybee, its stinger does not have barbs on it. It can pull it out and reinsert it."

Is there any insect expert out there that can tell us if this is correct?

I keep bees. 1 bee 1 sting. Pretty simple.

Normal bees can only sting once. Killer bees can sting thousands and thousands of times. Deadly little critters. Horrible.

@Jeff....you're wrong. No such species as "Killer". Killer bees refer to Africanised honey bees, which in comparison to European and American Hybrid are aggressive. However, our run-of-the-mill bees are these "Killer Bees".

...and a single bee can't sting humans more than once.

D.

http://www.bumblebee.org/bodySting.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumblebee

What is the truth? Can a Bumblebee sting you more than once or not?

Dude..I was pulling the piss..thought that much was obvious..

"Bumblebees are not found south of the Sahara. There are however large black and yellow and pure black species both of which are carpenter bees. The black and yellow type are often confused with the European Bumblebee." Dominique Marchand from the Honeybee Foundation & Products

Carpenter bees can sting more than once according to the link below.

http://www.pestworldforkids.org/bees.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_sting

some advice (learned the hard way) - if you get in close proximity of a bees nest a few scouts will be sent to inspect you. they will fly aggressively close to you - do not try to swat them / wave arms / etc - you will be stung if you do that. pull your head down and stay perfectly still - they might just decide you're harmless and leave you alone. if stinging commence get out of there!

'Honeybee queens can sting more than once but their stings are mostly reserved for rival queens.' Jenny Marchand from Honeybee Foundation & Products

If you are stung by a bee try to kill it so you can identify it!

NO, you're only going to get stung again! Get medical help soonest

Sigh

one should really try to catch a live one to ensure 100% positive identification.

I say, if you see bees, keep your distance! Statistics have proven that 100% of bee stings happen in close proximity to bees.

On a slight detour back to the original post, Kleinmond's riverside routes (the two very short 19s) still have their very own and very active resident hive (I think there is even a second one about ten metres up and to the left of the routes). Don't go and climb there if you have a "piss bees off" kind of face.

_________________
...Chalk is cheap...

C'mon guys, harden up!

I had some of my most memorable sends while being stung by a bee... Behr Hug at Outdshoorn(red pointed)(pun intended), and Teenage Mutant at Montagu(on shite, I meen onsight).

Nothing like a bit of honey bee sting for incentive up a route...

"As far as I know, carpenter bee (females) can sting more than once - though they are normally quite reluctant to sting." Mike Allsopp from Agricultural Research Council.

http://www.arc.agric.za/

Whoops, I didn't get any e-mail notifications, so I didn't know people were actually replying to this.


Hey, Brad, I'm glad my pain brought you so much amusement. ;D Since you enjoyed it, I'll forward you the original director's cut I e-mailed to Mix. Yeah, I've been meaning to get a hold of you for a while. Hope you're all doing well.
Still here (although not supposed to be...) but hoping to head to Namibia in about 8 hours for a few days, hopefully restore my status here so I an apply for an Angolan visa in Cape Town and then turn around and head out again, going all the way up the West coast of Africa over a few months. We'll see what horrid, nasty little creatures await me there! ;D
I did come right! I think - never heard that expression, so not sure what it means. But yeah, I got myself a small motorcycle 2.5 weeks ago and FINALLY found my way out of all the associated red tape a week ago.
Damn, I wish I'd checked this post as I so would've been keen to climb. Oh, well, I might not have been able to regardless, as it was a busy weekend (climbing Friday, caving Saturday, dirtbiking Sunday, hiking Monday). I'll come calling once/if SA lets me back in, though. I finally got another chalk bag.



You're welcome, hope it helps someone.



Yeah, tell me about it. His mother must have been a ninja.



Yeah, apparently it depends on the type of bee. Bees in Canada are (as far as I know) all one bee, one sting. The one I saw after smacking down looked most like the Africanized honeybee, although I thought it actually had a green tint to it which I donn't see in pics online. But that might've just been the accumulated poison affecting my vision. ;D



Thanks for the advice. I don't know where I'll get to use it, though, as I wouldn't be concerned about bees at home and if I see any more bees in South Africa, I'm running like hell in the opposite direction. ;D



I did manage to catch a glimpse of one of them with it's back to the ground, legs twitching, after I dazed it, and I thought about taking a picture (just for curiousity, as I'm not allergic), but I decided I'd rather get far, FAR away as quickly as possible, lest reinforcements arrived. Plus, after all the activity and excitement, I was way too shaky to take a reasonably clear picture.



lol Be my guest if you want to go catch a live one. ;D



Hehe, statistics never lie. Except for the 73.4% of statistics that are made up on the spot. Thanks for the warning about Kleinmond. I've never had a problem with bees before, but I think I'll give that area a pass anyway. I definitely won't be wearing a Bafana Bafana supporters jersey there, at least.



Haha! Good point. I think I probably set a speed record hiking up the rest of that Lakeside path. Kudos for the puns, too.