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bent_gate
Sep 11, 2007, 8:10 PM
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Yeah it's my understanding as well that it's crushing the bees that releases the attack phermone.
I saw a special where they compared the distance that killer bees followed a threat versus regular bees.
The regular bees followed and continued to attack the human (in a bee suit) up to like 300 feet from the nest.
Whereas the Killer Bees continued up to three times that; and followd the human 900 feet from the nest. Scary that you have to get almost 2/10 of a mile away.
They also found that they received about 10 times the number of stings. Yikes!
(This post was edited by bent_gate on Sep 11, 2007, 8:28 PM)
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Valarc
Sep 11, 2007, 8:19 PM
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bent_gate wrote: You should also carry some Benadryl or chewable Chlortrimeton . As soon as you administer the EpiPen, you should administer the Benadryl. So hopefully, when the epinephrine wears off, the Benadryl will be enough to stave off the reaction.
Thanks for pointing that out. I do carry benadryl, but forgot to mention it. I hadn't thought of the chewables, but that's definitely a good idea. Liquid benadryl might be wise to keep on hand, too.
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ant_zacchino
Sep 11, 2007, 8:35 PM
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Yeah that was me! My partner did find a nest half way up on the 10d next to St. Pauli's Girl. He wrote "NO" on it with Chalk and put an X on it, though I am sure that has worn off by now... Hopefully some cooler weather will clear the nest soon.
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slablizard
Sep 11, 2007, 10:27 PM
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Mount Diablo..a small beehive was right near the belay tree, left of Amazing face...a dusk RAID mission followed.
the colony was successfully terminated. No casualities among the FFOR
end report.
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abock33
Sep 11, 2007, 10:46 PM
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clee03m wrote: I don't know if it's urban legend or what, but I heard someone at RRG got surrounded by bees when he was off belay but before he put himself on rappel, and simply unclipped and fell to his death. One of those stories that really scares me. I'm glad you are OK, and I am glad to hear that it's possible to keep a cool head even in that circumstance.
Sounds possible . There's been a bees nest at Fortress for forever. I think they've been contemplating even putting it in the guide book.
I got stung over Labor Day weekend. it was my fault I flicked it and it landed on my other hand. Thankfully I was on the deck. There was a girl that apparently stirred up the nest. We heard her screaming DOWN, DOWN at the other end of the wall. Sounded like it sucked.
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scotchie
Sep 11, 2007, 10:57 PM
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clee03m wrote: I don't know if it's urban legend or what, but I heard someone at RRG got surrounded by bees when he was off belay but before he put himself on rappel, and simply unclipped and fell to his death. One of those stories that really scares me. I'm glad you are OK, and I am glad to hear that it's possible to keep a cool head even in that circumstance.
Your story sounds too close to the Mt Camelback incident to NOT be the same event, and that was NOT urban legend. Check out the links earlier in this thread.
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potreroed
Sep 13, 2007, 7:42 PM
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I used to solo a lot at Devil's Lake but always routes that were known to me and well below my limit.
One day I found a route I had never climbed and it looked real good and not having a partner I decided to solo it--after scoping it out carefully both from the bottom and the top.
The first 40 feet were a beautiful fist crack to a large ledge. Above that were some thin moves to a sloping ledge and then parallel hand cracks to the top.
The bottom crack was beautiful and I was really enjoying myself when I got to the big ledge. I climbed up to the sloping ledge and found that it sloped more than I expected and had no holds on it at all and was very slippery. I climbed up and down 4 or 5 times and was about ready to resign myself to downclimbing the fist crack when I found a tiny little hold in the back corner of the sloping ledge. I pulled myself up, stuck my hands in the parallel cracks and that's when the yellowjackets came swarming out. I hightailed it up those cracks while being stung repeatedly on my face, arms and back.
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mwunder424
Sep 13, 2007, 7:47 PM
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yeah.. I found a nest on bubbawiser as well... (only 10c or 10d though I think...)
-- bad day for bees... but it was pretty funny to see Anthony fly off the ledge next to cluster bombs with a swarm of pissed off bees hot on his ass
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billcoe_
Sep 13, 2007, 8:02 PM
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Holy crap Ed, that could have been ugly. err, uglier!
I walked throough a ground nest of Yellow-jackets at the Rocky Butte dash for trash 2 years ago and learned something interesting.
As they started stinging I ran like hell swatting as I ran. I got hit maybe 6-8 times. I had on a polortec 200 shirt I'd gotten at REI. This is a medium weight polor fleece thing. As it was unbuttoned, once I was out of nest range I pulled it off and let it hit the deck cause I had seen a hornet or 2 on my arm.
Once it was on the ground, I was shocked and horrified to see that they had the back totally covered with maybe 30 or so hornets, and were all appearing to repeatedly sting it, and they all appeared to be stuck or entangled in the fleece. I didn't receive a single sting on that area.
A few were able to unentangle and fly off, most hadn't get off before my fear overtook me and they were stomped.
Wish I'd had that last Saturday instead of that ulta thin workout t-shirt. Probably not a bad idea to wear something like it, but it was sooooo hot.
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grasshoppa
Sep 14, 2007, 12:01 AM
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I was surrounded by bees one time out in Joshua Tree, but I was belaying my partner. I had to keep really still/calm and continue to belay him since he was leading a hard 10a. I wanted to just let go of the rope and run like hell, but a good belayer never let's go of the rope!  Thank goodness I was never stung, but he managed to take one on the ankle when he topped out.
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billcoe_
Sep 19, 2007, 4:40 AM
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I have had pretty severe joint pain in all my major joints and many of my other ones since I received these hornet stings.
So much so that I've been blowing off the eveing climbing sessions, and only showed up once, and that was to belay.
Interesting, as it seems more than coincidence to me.
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hosh
Sep 19, 2007, 5:04 AM
Post #38 of 52
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Valarc wrote: bent_gate wrote: You should also carry some Benadryl or chewable Chlortrimeton . As soon as you administer the EpiPen, you should administer the Benadryl. So hopefully, when the epinephrine wears off, the Benadryl will be enough to stave off the reaction. Thanks for pointing that out. I do carry benadryl, but forgot to mention it. I hadn't thought of the chewables, but that's definitely a good idea. Liquid benadryl might be wise to keep on hand, too.
I was hiking once through a trail several miles away from town here in Juneau and a family disturbed a hornet's nest. The kid who got stung wasn't allergic, but was stung pretty bad on the chest. I had a 1st aid kit on me with lots of Benadryl. I broke several pills open to get the powder out and made a paste with a little water, applied that to his chest and gave him another pill to swallow. I don't know if the paste did anything medically, but it seemed to make the kid feel better about his situation. I always keep several Benadryl with me, even though I'm not allergic to bees...
hosh.
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bent_gate
Sep 19, 2007, 8:04 AM
Post #39 of 52
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billcoe_ wrote: I have had pretty severe joint pain in all my major joints and many of my other ones since I received these hornet stings. So much so that I've been blowing off the eveing climbing sessions, and only showed up once, and that was to belay. Interesting, as it seems more than coincidence to me.
Delayed reactions occur more than four hours after a sting - in a few cases, even a week later. People report hives, fever, joint pain and fatigue. These people may be at risk for anaphylaxis if they are stung again later.
http://www.njc.org/...-yellow-jackets.aspx
If you have joint pain or swelling, urinary problems, or unexplained numbness, tingling or burning sensation, or pain in the weeks after an insect sting, you should see your health care provider.
http://www.medicineonline.com/...Allergy-Insect-Sting
And you may be becoming sensitized and have a dangerous reaction next time.
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billcoe_
Sep 19, 2007, 3:14 PM
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Thanks for the links Bentgate: your google skills surpass mine, I had looked earlier for that stuff.
"Some people have an immediate "large local reaction" in which a larger area around the sting becomes swollen. "
Certainly applies to me, my left elbow and arm was pretty swollen, the stings there were so close together you couldn't count them. It feels like I pulled a ligament on my left arm )the hardest hit area) while bouldering the day after I got stung. My left knee feels similar, like I tweaked a liament right at the knee. All the rest of the joints just hurt.
It seems to be getting a little better every day though.
I'm not complaining about this, I just wanted to put this stuff out there into the community.
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jman
Sep 19, 2007, 4:33 PM
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I was seconding a friends first multi-pitch trad lead on Beginners Delight at the Gunks, and on the second pitch they put a cam behind a hollow flake on the traverse. Little did they know there was a yellow jacket nest behind the flake. By the time I made it to that piece of gear the bees were pretty pissed off and I got stung a number of times trying to get the cam out because it was pretty deep in the flake. Reach of the trigger...get stung...curse a little...repeat.
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cush
Apr 10, 2009, 11:46 PM
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bumping an old thread simply because, as i learned today, bees fucking suck.
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rockandlice
Apr 16, 2009, 9:45 PM
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Since it's bumped, I'll share mine.
I took a huge whipper on flight of the gumbie at the new. I cruised the route and was trucking my way to the shuts. I shoved my hand in a huge jub right by the achors, and start pulling slack to clip. I had a lot of slack pulled as I was far from worried that I may fall when suddenly my hand was on fire. The big old jug I had snagged turned out to be home to a wasp nest as well. I freaked with my arm swarmed with these suckers and pitched off. It was a solid 35-40ft. fall and the biggest I have ever taken.
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MikeSaint
Apr 16, 2009, 11:35 PM
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abock33 wrote: Sounds possible . There's been a bees nest at Fortress for forever. I think they've been contemplating even putting it in the guide book.
Funny that I saw this.. Memorial Day of 08 I heard and saw a massive hive on rapping off of.. Bedtime for Bonzo? It was off to the side maybe twenty feet or so. I'll be back at the Fortress Memorial Day 09.. wonder if it'll still be there?
...
Is it silly to ask a doctor for an epipen even though I'm not allergic to bees? I've been told you can become allergic at anytime. I suppose that bennadryl idea is a good alternative..
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gblauer
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Apr 17, 2009, 12:53 AM
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I wonder the same thing...would it be good to have an epi pen just in case. For you or another climber. I think at the very least, I will carry some benedryl in my first aid kid.
Thanks for the reminder!
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rgold
Apr 17, 2009, 1:44 AM
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Probably a good idea to have two epi pens---recommended in the last WFR course I took. You need a prescription for these, and the pens expire, so you have to keep getting new ones (each year, I think).
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MikeSaint
Apr 17, 2009, 2:00 AM
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I suppose I'll have to have a chat with the Doc' about it. I figured it would be unlikely for them to prescribe it when I'm not allergic. Yet at the same time I think they could understand the situations where having an epipen while climbing could be critical.
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fuzzbait
May 2, 2009, 1:09 PM
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I was at a crag climbing with my wife in China. I just finished a route noting a small hornets nest, only 6 cells in the paper nest, climbing around it to the anchors.
After lowering I tied my wife in and told her about the nest, where it was and how to go around it.
As she was climbing up she raised her head to the level of the nest when one of the demons flew out and attacked her. Now this was just one wasp but over here these guys are bright red and about an inch and a half long. They are scary mother f$%krs!
I heard this blood curdling scream from above and witnessed panick from like the sky was falling. I let the rope scream through my hands in order to get her on the ground as fast as possible as the beast was in hot pursuit.
She had been stung in the head and had a knot the size of a golf ball well up on her. I tried to convince her of the benifits of venom but she was not to into it at that moment.
I had to be careful as in many areas here she is the only one I have to go climbing with.
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mr8615
May 2, 2009, 2:10 PM
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Two (or three) years ago I was climbing Layback and Enjoy It at Bubba City (the new) with an unfamiliar belayer and after clipping the third or fourth bolt (at my head), I reached into an undercling and grabbed a nest of yellow jackets. I tried to jump off but was stuck where I was, as my belayer had forgotten how to lower with a grigri and I was already clipped above me. I remember screaming at him to just pull the lever as I clawed my way head first down the face. The yellow jackets followed my rope down to me even as I ran further into the woods and it wasn't until I untied and tossed the rope that they stopped stinging me. I think we counted between 35 and 40 stings on my face, neck and arms. That was as close to hell as I've been able to imagine. If I were allergic, no doubt that would've been it for me.
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