Bees,Wasps, and Hornets, Oh My!

[opme]

I love the outdoors. I love backpacking. I love everything about it except: flying stinging insects.
Mosquitoes, deer flies, horseflies, blackflies don't bother me at all. Hornets, yellow jackets, wasps, honeybees, etc. scare me to death.
I'm not allergic, I just have a true phobia.
If a bee comes around, I jump, squeal and run. Not exactly the most masculine thing, especially when you do it when meeting your girlfriend's parents for the first time.
Because of this, I tend to limit my excursions to early spring or late late fall, when it's too cold for them to be out and about.
But I want to get more into backpacking and being outdoors, and realize that unless I come up with some amazing invention to scare bees away, this is something I will have to deal with.
So my question is, have any of you been absolutely terrified of bees & wasps and found a way to get over it and enjoy the outdoors like a normal adult?
I've gone so far as to ask a couple of beekeepers to LET ME get stung by a few bees thinking it may help me realize how silly this is. (They declined to due not wanting any sort of liability, thanks lawyers!)
I do realize it's just a little pinch. Unfortunately, this information has not helped me at all. The only time I have been stung was in Summer of 1984 when I was 4, read into that what you would like.

[TNhiker]

just dont think about it while hiking.....

in 15 years of hiking here in tennessee, ive been stung 3 times......twice on the same day and the third one about a week later.........

other than that, i just dont worry myself over it........

[Rocket Jones]

I treat my outer clothes and hat with permethrin. Last year I sat still doing a sketch and was surrounded with flying critters, including wasps. Not a single one landed on me. They'd buzz in as if they wanted to, but would veer off a few inches away.

Try a headnet?

[pipsissewa]

All good advice above, but a phobia is an irrational fear. And it is just that: irrational. It doesn't work to tell you to just not think about it or don't worry about it. I have a phobia of roaches and they don't even bite or sting! It's completely irrational but very powerful.

Like Rocket Jones says, get a headnet. Wear long sleeves and long pants and even gloves if you need them to feel safe. I do all of these (headnet, long sleeves and pants and usually gloves) even in the sweltering summer. I have to because gnats love me and I'm so allergic. It's a pain, but I'm used to it. I make my own headnets with tulle strung on a string and tied around a large-brimmed hat. Do I look like a dork? Probably. But as I'm standing there talking to someone being menaced by gnats, they inevitably say, "That's a good idea." Yeah, I know... . Good luck! :)

[Don H]

Hiking only in the winter would solve the bug problem ;)

[OCDave]

Have you considered medication? Your primary care physician would likely refer you to a physician with experience treating phobias.

Good Luck

[Pedaling Fool]

They (the carpenter/bumblebees are out in force in the spring/summer time. Always tons coming to you and if you don't swat at them they will land on you and get their fill of moisture and salt; you can actually watch them lick it off your body.

I'll post some pics for you (it's the least I can do:D) and you can look them in the eye and mentally reprogram yourself before you go out there. You know what they say, if you can't beat them, join them. That's basically the mindset you want to adopt, since they are here to stay. They really don't want to sting you as long as they don't feel threatened, even wasps are very docile.


I'm always petting wasps I see out in the garden, because I also have (or had) a mild wasp phobia; only wasps, because I had two very memorable wasp stings when I was very young.

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m484/76gunner/Pollinators%20at%20work/19ca5adc-bf31-477f-aa1a-acda8619dcea_zpsc1cbec21.jpg (http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/76gunner/media/Pollinators%20at%20work/19ca5adc-bf31-477f-aa1a-acda8619dcea_zpsc1cbec21.jpg.html)


http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m484/76gunner/Pollinators%20at%20work/022_zpsbca4765c.jpg (http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/76gunner/media/Pollinators%20at%20work/022_zpsbca4765c.jpg.html)

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m484/76gunner/Pollinators%20at%20work/bdc82213-5ba7-4e8d-9294-5fb6e69b8c76_zpsfb30a9f8.jpg (http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/76gunner/media/Pollinators%20at%20work/bdc82213-5ba7-4e8d-9294-5fb6e69b8c76_zpsfb30a9f8.jpg.html)

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m484/76gunner/Pollinators%20at%20work/006.jpg (http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/76gunner/media/Pollinators%20at%20work/006.jpg.html)

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m484/76gunner/Pollinators%20at%20work/040.jpg (http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/76gunner/media/Pollinators%20at%20work/040.jpg.html)

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m484/76gunner/Bee%20Sting/023.jpg (http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/76gunner/media/Bee%20Sting/023.jpg.html)


http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m484/76gunner/Sept%202013/166761e2-1843-43bf-990c-c6426872e9dd_zpsf426d883.jpg (http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/76gunner/media/Sept%202013/166761e2-1843-43bf-990c-c6426872e9dd_zpsf426d883.jpg.html)

[rafe]

Wasps not so much, but I've had my encounters with bees and other stinging critters on the trail from Virginia to Vermont. It hurts like hell for a couple minutes. I carry Benadryl in my first aid kit for such encounters. And of course Ibuprofen. But honestly the best way I've found to deal with the stings is to push on, maybe even harder than before, and stay well-hydrated. (The idea is to get the blood moving and pee the toxins out of you, ASAP.)

In 35 years of hiking I can recall maybe a half dozen incidents involving bee stings.

These days I'm more worried about ticks. And on my last long section hike I discovered chiggers, or rather, they discovered me. Ugh.

I keep hearing about Permethrin. Where does one get this stuff?

[saltysack]

Wasps not so much, but I've had my encounters with bees and other stinging critters on the trail from Virginia to Vermont. It hurts like hell for a couple minutes. I carry Benadryl in my first aid kit for such encounters. And of course Ibuprofen. But honestly the best way I've found to deal with the stings is to push on, maybe even harder than before, and stay well-hydrated. (The idea is to get the blood moving and pee the toxins out of you, ASAP.)

In 35 years of hiking I can recall maybe a half dozen incidents involving bee stings.

These days I'm more worried about ticks. And on my last long section hike I discovered chiggers, or rather, they discovered me. Ugh.

I keep hearing about Permethrin. Where does one get this stuff?

Walmart now sells


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[Theosus]

Permethrin is available at walmart, but they have it at farm supply stores in concentrated form. There's instructions for making the right emulsion (usually about a shot glass full in a gallon of water).

I worry more about wasps in the fall. They get aggressive right about the time the leaves get pretty. Usually after the first good frost they are gone, but between late august and october, be careful. Just walking by their nest (especially ground dwellers) can cause them to come out mad and stinging. Watch poles too... jabbing rotten stumps or areas off trail may cause you to punch a hole in a nest, not something that will leave you happy the rest of the day.

[gumball]

I am a beekeeper. Unless you are allergic or inadvertently or purposely really bother a bee (or even a bumblebee), you have little to fear. Wasps, yellow jackets and hornets perhaps a different story. Yellow jackets are particularly miserable characters who can require little provocation to sting and they will sting more than once, as their stingers do not leave their bodies (as does a honeybee, who only gets to sting once, because it means their death--the stinger pulls the rest of their insides out). Be careful where you step, try not to agitate them--you will be fine.

[Rocket Jones]

A few years ago I got a bottle of permethrin from the local big-box hardware store. It was in the garden department with the rest of the insecticides, and I made sure that permethrin was the *only* active ingredient. Last year I got it from a vet supply store online. Both times, I mixed it to the proper strength myself.

[MidTenn Trekker]

A few years ago I got a bottle of permethrin from the local big-box hardware store. It was in the garden department with the rest of the insecticides, and I made sure that permethrin was the *only* active ingredient. Last year I got it from a vet supply store online. Both times, I mixed it to the proper strength myself.


Hiking with Benedryl is probably smart. As for bees and most wasps, if you have an encounter, they are probably just curious and should pose no threat (unless you swat at them and then you may hit their stinger). I have been a major organic vegetable gardener for 35 years and I actually like for bees (pollination) and wasps (predate on bug pests) to be around/in my garden. In all these years, I have never been stung by these insects. I stay calm around them and have had several land on my arm, etc and when I don't move, they always just move on. I suggest you spend some time in a big garden and get used to bees and wasps - they really are not interested in bothering you. As noted, Yellow Jackets are different - very aggressive. If you run into them - get away. They have underground nests and are very territorial. I have seen them have a nest near a trail and go after everyone that passes by. So anyway, for bees and most wasps - learn to relax around them, as they mean no harm. Best of luck on your future hikes.

[opme]

Thank you for your replies. I have lurked on this site for years and have read much in the way of good advice, and have put it to use. But I was still a little reluctant to post about this subject.
Pedaling Fool, those pictures literally made the hair on my arms stand up! I'm the guy who has had the occasion of his cell phone vibrating next to him and jumped because he thought it was a wasp!
Pipsisewa that is what I have been thinking of doing. I hope that would be the first step to get my comfortable to eventually be without it. I don't always want to be the only person in pictures dressed as a beekeeper!
OCDave that is something I've considered, but have been reluctant to talk to the doc about. I was without insurance but have just got it again, I guess this is my chance.
Benadryl will go into my limited first aid kit and I'll have to do some research into permethrin.

[rafe]

Agreed about the bees vs. yellow jackets; I'm pretty sure it's mostly yellow jackets that have got me on the trail. And yes, they often come from nests in the ground -- I've referred to them as ground bees. Bumblebees are usually not a problem.

[Nooga]

It seems to me that yellow jackets are more aggressive in the fall

[Pedaling Fool]

Pedaling Fool, those pictures literally made the hair on my arms stand up!That was the intent. You can overcome this thing, just start with looking at them and move on to seeing them in a garden or where ever.

All bees/wasps are very docile, including the much feared Yellow Jackets and "Killer" bees and have no desire to sting you, unless they feel threatened (for instance, if they get caught between your skin and clothing).

However, as others have said, if you get near their nests that's a different story, but solitary bees/wasps buzzing around are no threat.

[Feral Bill]

Hiking only in the winter would solve the bug problem ;)
late fall through early spring is most of the year, with many other pluses.

[Sarcasm the elf]

It seems to me that yellow jackets are more aggressive in the fall

Every spring the queen bees emerge from where they hid for the winter and go aboutcreating a new hive and laying eggs. When the hive consists of only the queen and a few bees, each of them is important to the survival of the hive and they tend not to attack intruders unless they are directly threatening the nest. As the hive's popularion grows there are more bees that are expendable and therefore more that can attack intruders.

In the fall the hives are at their maximum size and there are plenty of extra bees that can be guards bees that go off and attack a perceived threat.

It gets even worse in the late fall when the queen leaves the next to make a burrow and weather out the winter. All of the remaining bees are left in the hive to die once the frosts kill them off. Once they're there with no queen and no real purpose they get rather ornery.

(This is my highly unscientific recollection of how it was explained to me by a naturalist.) All I know for sure is thatyellowjackets really suck in the early fall.

[jeffmeh]

The nastiest ones up north are the white-tailed hornets (also called the bald-face hornet). A relative of the yellow jacket, but much more aggressive. Don't ask how I know.

Phobias are strange things indeed. I wish you the best in overcoming it.

[Wise Old Owl]

bald face hornets are the worst up here. hands down. We don't have africanized Honey Bees.

as for phobias ... well dad had one about seeing blood - used to pass out every time he cut himself - used his press pass to sit in the surgery theater to get over it... it works. Most pest guys like myself only get a few calls a year for this so I keep just a top of a bee suit in a car- I have worked with honey bees since I was a kid. Can I suggest you find a local apiary and suit up?

[Pedaling Fool]

Note to the OP: Even Bald Face Hornets (which is actually just a different variety of Yellow Jacket) are sweetiepies when you see them buzzing around away from their nests. I get them all the time in my garden; they also like to be petted :D

[Wise Old Owl]

I agree - dont mess with them stay 15 - 20 feet away no worries.

[Ken.davidson]

Find a local beekeeper and learn about bees from them. Once you get to know them it should help get over your phobia. Good luck.


Thanks,
Ken
http://www.trailjournals.com/Sidewinder2013

[slbirdnerd]

I was terrified of flying stinging insects as a child. Spending more time outdoors and just becoming educated about them has changed things dramatically, as well as having a kid. He's freaked out by them so now it's my job to remain calm, right?

Honey bees, bumble bees and carpenter bees are actually pretty cool once you get to know them. I can absolutely do without the yellow jackets, and living in a rural area in the open we have a number of pretty aggressive wasps. I admit, I still run like hell from those.

[Sarcasm the elf]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/t1.0-9/q71/s720x720/10338845_662858813749603_4255932202399544138_n.jpg

[ChuckT]

War story - we were clearing weeds on some rural property we had in west central Florida and I disturbed wasp nest in the ground. Wife said I had 20 - 30 stings. Little ÷=%_€s chased me! Quick trip to the walk-in clinic and a night's sleep and I came back with wasp spray, the 20' away variety, the nest had been dug up and destroyed during the night by a critter! Possums? Racoon? Don't know, don't care. Served the little b$!÷×%\so right. But I got my personal revenge 'cause I found 2 other smaller nests, and bombed them, on the same property.
Moral? Don't mess with wasps, carry Benadryl and get revenge

Sent from my Samsung Note 3 using Tapatalk.

[Surplusman]

I have never really had any trouble with the bald-faced hornets, except when I unknowingly walked under a nest hanging off a tree branch that had just been whacked by a whip aerial on a truck. Their sting was the most painful that I have ever had. However, as long as their nests are not directly in the path of people and animals, I leave them alone. They love to kill flies, and anything that kills flies isn't all bad in my book. I've found that yellow jackets are a lot more aggressive than the hornets are, but I can't back that up scientifically.

[Pedaling Fool]

I have never really had any trouble with the bald-faced hornets, except when I unknowingly walked under a nest hanging off a tree branch that had just been whacked by a whip aerial on a truck. Their sting was the most painful that I have ever had. However, as long as their nests are not directly in the path of people and animals, I leave them alone. They love to kill flies, and anything that kills flies isn't all bad in my book. I've found that yellow jackets are a lot more aggressive than the hornets are, but I can't back that up scientifically.I don't know either, since I don't have a lot of time around each of their nests and one important factor is that it seems like the baldfaced hornets (wasps) would (at least in effect) be less aggressive since their nests tend to be in the air and thus we don't get in proximity as much as the yellow jackets.

I've also read that they (baldfaced) are more aggressive, but I've also read more things that say they are less aggressive...I don't know...But away from their nests they are both pretty docile, once you get over the psychological fear and they are pretty scary looking.

This reference says not only are they(baldfaced) less aggressive, but they also hunt down and kill yellow jackets for their larvae. http://www.bugsaway.com/baldfacedhornet.htm


Excerpt:

Baldfaced hornets are beneficial, capturing insects (often including other yellowjackets) to feed to their larvae. Though larger than other yellowjackets, Baldfaced hornets are generally more docile. But they can become aggressive and will sting when their nest is disturbed or threatened.


A Baldfaced nest is usually constructed high in a tree. In these cases the nest is best left alone. In fact, Baldfaced hornet nests are often first noticed in fall when leaves drop, exposing the nest. By this time the hornets are dead or dying, and the nest will not be reused.

[lemon b]

Whenever I find a hive in the ground I pour a healthy dose of poison down it at night. Honey Bees I leave alone. I've been stung more times than I can remember being both s hiker and living on a farm. Hurts like heck but not for a long time. Prickers can actually be more of an issue.

[he.who.forgets]

i went for a leisurely stroll in the woods this evening as the sun was going down. From the moment I set foot on the trail a yellow fly or two started swarming around my head. They weren't landing on me so it was just annoying at first. After about 5 minutes of walking, the swarm seemed to increase to 5-6. They finally got so bad, I resorted to trying to just outrun them. I turned around, hike ruined. There were probably 7 or 8 of them at their peak of assault and didn't relent until I crossed the street after the trailhead. I must have looked like a crazed maniac back in those woods, swatting, whipping my pony tail around, cussin & spittin. It was awful. All said and done, I dont think I was stung once but it was the most miserable 20 minutes.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Did I ever mention that I really don't like yellowjackets?

[wormer]

Hi opme, I was at the Summit of the Horn yesterday in your neck of the woods. I set my left hand down without looking and was stung by a large brown horse fly looking type bee that was probably on the rocks gathering the suns heat. It didn't sting me as well as it could have because once it just started to sting and burn, I got him off quickly. It did get me thinking that I should carry something for bee stings.

[jimmyjam]

Whenever I find a hive in the ground I pour a healthy dose of poison down it at night. Honey Bees I leave alone. I've been stung more times than I can remember being both s hiker and living on a farm. Hurts like heck but not for a long time. Prickers can actually be more of an issue.

I sneak up on their nest at night (after carefully marking the location in the day time)with my red light on because yellow jackets supposedly cannot see red light. I quickly pour a cup of gas down the hole and put a brick over it. No need to light the gas, by putting a brick over the hole the fumes travel down the tunnel and kill them all. Works every time. I had a very severe allegric reaction from them and went thru 3 years of shots to overcome my allergy to them, so I have a great deal of respect and contempt for them. They are very dangerous and the nest should never be approached in the day time and only very carefully at night.

[bangorme]

Concerning the OP, I'd do some research about some of the new ways phobias are being treated. One involves periods of exposure to whatever your phobia concerns until you become desensitized. True phobias are not only psychological, but physiological, so they aren't something that can be rationalized away. It would seem that bees wouldn't be hard to do this with since they are kept, domesticated, and very available. The difference between a bee and hornet seems largely immaterial, from a phobia perspective, since the sting feels pretty similar. I've been stung by many over the years and they hurt a little, but not enough to justify a fear of them... which is why phobias aren't rational.