... well, helmet actually. Flew in as I was bombing along past the zoo, cue rapid helmet removal and deceleration in a very suspect manoeuvre, luckily no sting!
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Commuting
Bee in my bonnet
(28 posts)-
Posted 9 years ago #
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I have had a wasp along for the ride before. It got under my helmet's chin strap, got alarmed and stung me on the neck.
Then climbed inside my collar and I could feel it buzzing around inside my arm pit.
Seriously uncool behaviour all round. I took part in an impromptu fastest-taps-aff competition at that point and then accosted a passer-by to assure me that it wasn't still hanging around with an evil glint in it's eye.
Posted 9 years ago # -
And there was me thinking helmets were supposed to be safety devices :-)
Posted 9 years ago # -
My helmet had mesh on the inside of the foremost vents for that sort of thing. I believe I was wearing it when I rode into a wasp on the Warriston path and got stung on the neck.
Posted 9 years ago # -
I always wear a Buff so that anything which flies in through a helmet vent has a harder job getting through to sting my bonce....
Posted 9 years ago # -
I got an insect repellent Buff this week.
No insect problems now.
Posted 9 years ago # -
I inhaled a bee once on my bike and got stung in the mouth (I think it was a bee because it tasted sweet as I spat it out). Fortunately it stung me just inside the cheek rather than the back of the throat as happened to my husband, which was rather scary. Top tip if that happens to you - take anti-histamines while you can still swallow...
Posted 9 years ago # -
The one which got me in the neck along Warriston resulted in a big swollen face by the time I got home; Piriton had brought it down by the time I got to the doctor but it was still deemed worth testing my venom-allergy scores.
Posted 9 years ago # -
@weefoldingbike,i was given an insect repellent buff at Xmas and have not had any insect related incidents since that point. However, I have not actually worn it. It is in the drawer with the other buffs. They have asked what makes it think it is so special,? it is just like us.
Posted 9 years ago # -
@gembo presumably it's keeping the moths at bay?
Posted 9 years ago # -
I've got some Craghopper insect repellent shirts, shorts and a desert hat. No insect issues with those either.
I had the Buff on this morning round Poole and Bournemouth. Pork pies and Trilbies don't always stay in place well at speed.
Posted 9 years ago # -
@sallyhinch had a wee moth in suit Cartier so have gone mental on the lavender repellent. What I am after is snug and snail eradicator. They have been gorging on my tatie shaws and must die.
Posted 9 years ago # -
@Gembo: a jam/coffee jar or old soup bowl half filled with beer and left sunken into the soil near your tatties will attract snails and slugs from far and wide. Most will then peg it in the beer bath before they do any damage. Empty regularly to dispose of marinaded molluscs and thus avoid their predators getting squiffy.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Thanks it's me knees I am trying to grow some tatties in a cold frame without lid and previously just grew herbs in it which the slugs and snails did not favour. Will try the beer. I believe scotmid sells an actually quite drinkable brown ale for 49p. I would not want to use my joker IPA or birds and bees (both from Williams bros and on sale at coop and scotmid for 1.75. Aldi cheaper but scotmid ethical)
Tried coffee grinds before but rubbish. Avoiding slug pellets. Copper strip did help a hosta we have in a plant. But they love hosta.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Climbing the Beef tub yesterday and trying to maintain some semblance of pace, I heard a furious buzzing coming from the vicinity of my magic plastic (and CF) wonder hat. I quickly had it off and there was a rather large bee stuck in the corner of one of the vents. He was freed quickly and on his merry way and I didn't even have to stop the bike. Still a moment of panic as I realised that the buzzing was probably not a lose allen bolt in my spare bidon cage.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Gembo, are you a participant in the Balerno potato fest?
Posted 9 years ago # -
@unhurt, yes tattie day, looks like the slugs and snails prefer Maris piper to salad blue at the moment. There was a genocide last night. Of both slugs and snails after the rain brought them out in force
Posted 9 years ago # -
@gembo
It seems the best thing for slugs is to get a flightless duck. I'll take the duck off you at the end of the season so that nothing goes to waste.
Similarly, you can keep a small nightjar in your wardrobe to deal with the moths, but we'll let him head south in autumn for obvious reasons.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Hedgehogs also good. I am watching the cat on the fence who is watching the garden, if only she could be trained to take out slugs and snails. She does go for bees
Posted 9 years ago # -
I understand that a circle of crushed eggshells is also good as an anti-slug measure. I'm happy to discourage rather than drown.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Growing them in the old cold frame may be your mistake Gembo - anything like that is a haven for slugs and they will keep coming. I drown mine in slug beer (no need to waste real beer - just a bit of yeast and sugar in warm water will do). They seem incredibly eager to get into the trap and dunk themselves which makes me feel a bit better about the whole thing. And I'd far rather drown slugs than poison them and then poison the birds that eat them.
Never had much luck with crushed eggshells, copper is a good barrier as are the various wool-based mulches (at last, a use for old merino) and I've had good results with spreading old coffee grounds around young plants which doubles as a way of adding nitrogen to the soil, so another good gardening tip for cyclists.
EDIT - I see you've already tried the coffee one
Posted 9 years ago # -
Slugs are on,y half my problem. Remember snails also big eaters. Beer makes me think they will die happy but spade is more effective.
Posted 9 years ago # -
I rather like slugs and snails - but I haven't had any beloved plants macerated...
gembo I suspect we may have just one or two degrees of tattiefefest separation (mother and one brother resident in Balerno)
Posted 9 years ago # -
@unhurt I was very cool this year with the slugs and snails until very recently. I do not want them helping themselves to my tatties. Get your mother and one brother to check out Balerno Village Screen, our free cinema back in September.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Chickens. Though they have a habit of also eating your crops....
Posted 9 years ago # -
The mother often attends the Village Screen! One day I will too...
Posted 9 years ago # -
The mother I will recognise them.
Beer traps buried in tatties. Duke of Clarence time for the slugs.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Someone at work gets nematodes delivered in the post (and stores the envelope labelled 'biological material'
in the fridge at the tea point) - but what pest she sics them on I'm not sure...Posted 9 years ago #
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