Beeeeeeees!

[lancegranite]

Wow, a very exciting thing happened today.

Taking my boss out climbing today on some of the fine sandstone outside of Santa Barbara, we were doing a two pitch route.

Sitting at the top of the second pitch, just put El Hefe on belay.

 

A funny sound caught my attention.

Hmmm, it's a swarm of bees, a really BIG swarm of bees.

All around me thousands and thousands of bees. the swarm was 50 feet wide.

Sure wish I wore a shirt, looks like I'm just gonna have to be calm.

I yelled down to the old man to let him know what's going on, then just layed against the rock and after 10 minutes they passed, only to swarm down to the boss at the lower station.

He copied the lay down move and he climbed away after 15 minutes with only one sting. Just watching him cower in the middle of the swarm was amazing, as I could neither lower him and climbing was out of the question.

The whole thing was very frightening.

Anybody ever have this happen? Let's hear your best insect incidents.

[Bug]

Cool. What an amazing experience. I have never heard of it happening without having moved the queen. She must have been on the move for them to be moving that way.

[olyclimber]

the worst bee experience i have ever had is watching that Bee Movie by Jerry Sienfeld.

[Stefan]

happened twice to me--both times playing soccer in games when I was a teenager....we just stopped the games for while.

 

pretty darned cool.

[lancegranite]

Just bee calm when it happens to you, it's very frightening when there is no where to run.

[JayB]

I seem to recall hearing about a fatality a few of years ago where a man leading a route at CamelBack Mountain, in Phoenix, was stung and took a fatal fall.

 

Took a bit of searching, but I think I found the story on a cached Chineese mountaineering page...

 

"In March, Keith Abbe and Jeff Passage were climbing the three-pitch Heart Route (5.2) near a formation known as the Praying Monk on Camelback's north side. On a large belay ledge below the last pitch, the two climbers accidentally disturbed a colony of Africanized honeybees (AHBs) in a hole in the rock about 30 feet up and left of their belay. AHBs are a hybrid species of European honeybees and an African strain that was accidentally released in Brazil in 1957. They have since migrated north. (AHBs were first discovered in Arizona in 1993.) Extremely aggressive, AHBs have followed people for up to a mile, and even chased them to water, where they'll wait for the victim to surface and sting again; 500 stings can kill an adult.

 

The bees attacked the two men, who attempted to flee. Abbe, 34, a schoolteacher, untied from the belay, slipped, and fell 50 feet down the face. His was the first known climbing death caused, if only indirectly, by bees. Passage sustained more than 100 stings, and was evacuated to the Arizona Heart Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.

 

Though bees only attack when provoked, this was the second time within a year that Arizona climbers had been their targets. In September, a Tucson man and his 13-year-old son were climbing at Saguaro National Park when they accidentally dislodged a nest of AHBs, which then attacked. The two fled to a nearby fire station, and were transported to a local hospital. The father was stung more than 200 times, the son about 50. Both recovered.

 

Bee attacks, like rattlesnake bites, are mostly a matter of bad luck. Still, know that bees are especially active on hot days, build their hives in protected environments (e.g. under roofs and in alcoves), and swarm to relocate four or five times a year, from March through November. Unfortunately, AHBs are becoming more prolific and are indistinguishable from honeybees except in the ferocity of their attack; their venom, however, is no more potent.

 

Bees are attracted to dark colors and flowered prints, so wear light colors or plain white. To further minimize your chances of attack, move quietly and slowly when near bees. Less than a week after the fatal Camelback accident, another team of climbers encountered the AHBs, but avoided trouble simply by keeping quiet and cautiously scooting away. If attacked, run for your car and seek immediate medical attention. For more information on AHBs and their range in the United States, visit http://agnews.tamu.edu/bees/."

 

http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:L-7VpqElMqUJ:www.cc.nctu.edu.tw/~mclub/meichu/teach/accident/issue137.htm+climber+dead+camelback+phoenix.+Passage&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

[Alpinfox]

 

I've related this story on cc.com previously, but...

 

 

The night of 9/10/01 I was camped at the lower saddle on the Grand Teton. Just before sundown my partner and I noticed a few black moths flying low to the ground from east to west through our campsite and over the saddle down into Montana. We didn't pay much attention. However, the quantity of moths kept increasing to the point where I would guess SEVERAL THOUSAND moths were flying through our campsite per minute. This migration lasted about 30min from first moth to last moth. I have no idea what they were or what the story is.

 

The next day we woke up, climbed The Grand, and didn't find out about September 11 events until a couple days later.

 

 

 

[Winter]

[Dechristo]

...from east to west through our campsite and over the saddle down into Montana.

 

You spell "Idaho" funny.

 

 

Climbing on a wall with a gal on TR, she suddenly began to freak. Screaming, pushing away to pendulum, waving arms and legs fiercely, my calls for an explanation were not answered. I lowered her and after a few moments of calm she breathlessly explained of a swarm of bees and her hyper-allergy to bee stings. Incredulous, as I would have seen a swarm and did not, I let it go. Later, she admitted the lack of allergy, but life-long presence of entomophobia.

[Bug]

...from east to west through our campsite and over the saddle down into Montana.

 

You spell "Idaho" funny.

 

Montana now has a warrant out for you arrest for "Impersonating a state" and there is a civil suite pending for slander.