Being bee-headed

I’ve been bee-headed.

After finishing another day at the best job in the world I was on my way home to the best family in the world when it happened.

I was about a kilometre from home, enjoying the perfect, Perth, Spring weather when I spotted some kind of flying bug heading in my direction. With me travelling at around 35 kilometres per hour in one direction and the bug heading fairly quickly in the other it was impossible to identify what kind of bug it was.

It hit my helmet and I assumed it would do what 99.9% of bugs do upon coming face to face with my helmet – bounce off. A second or two later I accomplished two things simultaneously. Without even seeing it I knew instantly that the bug hadn’t bounced off and at the same time I positively identified the bug as a bee.

After becoming lodged in one of the plentiful air vents of my helmet, the bee panicked and decided that I was a bad person who should be punished. It forcefully shoved it’s rear end into my forehead. OUCH!

I’ve never understood that mentality. I would have gladly taken off my helmet and let it fly off yet it sacrificed its life on the assumption that I was an aggressor. By assuming the worst, we both lost out.

Meanwhile, back on the bike, as the pain started ramping up, I said a number of words under my breath and pulled my bike up in super quick time, thus shredding a small patch on my back tyre. I unclipped my helmet, yanked it from my head and threw it down onto the grass by the side of the road. The bee also fell to the ground and started writhing around as its life slipped away. I knew that by stinging me the bee would surely die but I must admit that my right shoe helped speed up the process.

I wiped the sting from my forehead then calmly picked up my helmet, glasses and my iPod mini headphones. I reassembled myself and headed home with a throbbing, stinging pain in my forehead.

I now have a red blotch surrounding the area of impact and the pain is slowly dissipating. Not a great overall result but considering I’ve cycled tens of thousands of kilometres and this is the first (and hopefully last) time it’s happened, I reckon I’m doing OK.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

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About the author

Rodney Olsen

Rodney is a husband, father, cyclist, blogger and podcaster from Perth Western Australia.

He has worked in radio at Perth's media ministry Sonshine for over 25 years and has previously worked at ministries such as Compassion Australia and Bible Society.

The views he expresses here are his own.

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7 Comments

  • it’s a good thing you’re not allergic to bees (that could have been bad).
    side note: the pic you used of the bee is remarkably similar to one i took of a bee on the same kind of bud last month (except i never uploaded it anywhere on the internet so its definately not mine).

  • i’ve never been stung by a bee before, lots of wasps though. i think you’re supposed to apply ice to that area and maybe take an antihistamine?

  • First time? Some people have all the luck. I’ve been stung twice. Both times when I was in my teens, we had much tougher bees back then.

  • Hello Shawna. The picture I used came from my favourite royalty free photo website, http://www.sxc.hu I’d love to see your photo sometime.

    I think you must be right, better safe than sorry, my wife told me I should put ice on it too. 🙂

    Hey Mic, I didn’t mean it was my first bee sting, just my first while cycling. I think I’ve had about 2 or 3 stings in the past.

  • I have been stung a few times before and it certainly doesn’t tickle, but for the sweet and delicious taste of honey I don’t mind getting stung once or twice in my lifetime, as long as bees continue to help make honey

  • I was stung a couple of weeks ago. The bee came out of no where. Funny, it did hurt, but not as much as it used to when I was a kid:)

  • I’ve been stung twice, both times while riding near Murwillumbah for some reason. The fact that I was able to simply keep riding probably indicates that I don’t have an allergy.

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