one of my guys was stung repeatedly the other day from a large bees/wasps nest hanging inside of a bush…i always carry spray in truck, and have used it a lot. The customer had a pool and i thought maybe he should have jumped into the water, but ive read recently that the bees will follow ur scent and wait for u to come up…???and to run in a straight line away from bees, not zigzag running…youll get farther away in a straight line. Just a reminder to look before we go into bushes…im afraid of dogs and snakes, but sometimes forget about bees…luckily he wasnt allergic. I also called homeowner and alerted them to the hive. They were unaware of it and have children.
I run like a little girl from bees. Spiders, heights, loose tigers…not an issue. But damn I hate bees.
+1 on carrying spray
This last week I have been plagued by bee attacks. The first I was working on a steep roof cleaning gutters, and they attacked. I boogied so fast I was sure I was gonna fall. Then the other day everytime I tried to get this hornet to leave me alone, he just kept buzzing in my face. I was running around like a crazy man waiving my huck and scrim over my head. Now today same thing, up on a ladder, bee’s everywhere although today they left me alone.
I wish I could see myself running down a ladder, arms flailing, squeegees falling, funny face of fear and all, just trying to get away fast enough. I would sooo laugh at myself.
Years ago one of my employees and I agitated some yellow jackets in a rotting railroad tie at a commercial job. He got 11 stings on his leg and I got 4. He was hopping around and bee-lined it about 80 yards inside. He was out of it for the rest of the day. I carry spray now.
Howdy Sharen,
I’m Dangerous…we’ve spoken before, I’ve decided to come out of the shadows and start being a part of this forum, you can call me Dange if you like !
I’ve had many many experiences with them blasted bugs, I could tell you at least 10 stories right off the top of my head ! I’m not allergic to them but I’ve been stung so many times I’m kinda worry that I could become allergic.
Once I saw a couple of those black wood boring kind about 8’ above the 2ND story window on a house, boring into the wood siding…they were real big. I figured they were high enough above the window that we wouldn’t bother each other.
So I went up and cleaned the window with no problem, came down the ladder and started to move it to next window. Well they came down at me and started buzzing around my head (2 of them) and flying right at me so I took off running in a straight line like you pointed out with them still right on me. I ran about 40’ into a dead end on the side of the yard blocked by a fence . As soon as I stop one was rocketing right at me and nailed me right in the flat of my ear…Boy did that hurt, the ear got numb but it all only lasted a couple hours.
Your right about being observant, but it’s the bullet you don’t hear that gets you !!
Say Sharen I started a thread here " my desire as a window cleaner " It would sure be interesting to hear a desire you have as a window cleaner. Why don’t you come on over and tell us your desire, your more then welcome there. As well as you other Titans of WCR, Chris, Alex, Mistersqueegee, Juggernaut, so on and so forth, and all the rest of you long term members, no reason to be shy come on over and tell us all who access this forum what your desires are. Other Titans have posted already,the same to you newbies and lower ladder members…intrigue us with interesting points !
I’m not dangerous but Dangerous
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WD40 spray is my weapon of choice. Any lubricant spray that is petroleum- based seems to quickly disable the nervous system of insects and if you have a full spraycan it has a decent range too. i regularly downed big hornets and even spiders using WD40 in my former job as a car mechanic and now i keep a spraycan towards the rear door of my van ,at hand for instant use . it might make a real mess if you got wd40 on a cream sofa ,but for outside use its a gem to use
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Bees don’t bother me, but most of them in my state are pretty passive (except hornets)
Now if I lived where those damn mahogany wasps hang out, I would be a lot more
concerned.
Spiders on the other hand… you may smell something if one lands on me.
We do a 55+ apt complex that has balconies(no stairs), side by side divided by a privacy fence. You ladder up to one side and you hop over to the other. Well one side had a old bird house(on a stake youd put into the ground) that had been completely filled by bees. When the guy jumped over the vibrations shook the birdhouse and the bees came poring out. These balconies are 15-20 ft off the ground. He’s getting stung, the ladder is on the other side of the balcony, I’m closest to him but I’m up on a 32 ft ladder. I run down move the ladder, he gets down and ended up with 14 or so stings all around the head and neck. Its funny now but at the time it was a little scary. In addition to bee spray these are some other things to have on hand during bee season. Afterbite stick, helps with the swelling and itchiness, Benadryl if you get a few stings it helps alot. In a pinch you can mix some meat tenderizer with a small amount of water to make a paste that helps as well. You should definetly ask all employees if the are allergic and if so make sure they get an Epi-pen to keep in the truck.
This upcoming couple of months always seems to be the worst time of year for bees. Last summer I had an employee miss the bottom step on the ladder and step into a bush at a residential property. Needless to say he stepped into large nest and was stung about 10 times.
How at first it was kinda funny seeing him come running around to my corner of the house like a mad man but being an owner there is [U]nothing funny about having employees stung by bees.[U]
I have always carried hornet spray and take bees very serious. The last thing I need is an employee 25 feet off the ground swatting and being attacked by bees.
Bees can be a huge liability! My employees are trained to first check for beehives before climbing up a ladder.
a few weeks ago on a Friday, one of my guys comes in with a bee sting to his outer part of his ear. He calls me on Saturday and wants to go to the emergency and file Workers’ Comp. I told him to go to urgent care and bring the bill in on Monday and I will pay for the entire thing out of my own pocket. Total bill was $95.00 for office visit and a cortizone shot. His ear was swollen a little on the outer rim. Workers’ Comp for a bee sting? Are you serious?
Steve
He sounds like a chick
Good idea on the Epi-pen, how do u get those? I was stung on the stomach a couple years back and a customer put some meat tenderizer on me , I had never heard of that before, didnt have any trouble with the sting after the meat tenderizer, but the dogs in the neighborhood followed me around the rest of the day 
Funny!! urgent care for a bee sting…i AM a chick and I wouldnt even think to do that…but we window-washing chicks are a little tougher than the regular chicks…
Bees dont bother me but im super allergic. Last time i got stung (in the hand) - My hand swelled up like mickey mouse, it was like twice the size.
Amen Sister!
The bee stories reminded me of way back when, i once had to drive a big breakdown truck out to pull an American airmans mini-car out of a country ditch. He came along for the ride in his smart blue uniform to show me where his car had left the road. Now this truck hadnt been used much recently and as we slowly warmed her up along the small Suffolk country lanes a succession of Hornets suddenly flew out from underneath the bench seat in the truck. i still recall him shouting “goddam, theres another one !” and he spent the whole journey killing them. When we got to the destination he opened the turret door on this truck to observe through and a ring of sleepy hornets were laying all round the seal on the door
What’s with all the hatin’ on me and my family??
My “chick” assistant caught a hornet right in the, well, shorts 3 weeks ago. Still on the leg, but a REEEEEEALY bad place nonetheless. I told her to take as much time as she needed to recup, but she had a cig and was back cleaning screens in 10 minutes 
I’ve been killing bees for years with Dawn dish soap in a trigger spray bottle. It suffocates them like the WD40. I mix it thick, 3 parts water 1 part Dawn. When they are buzzing around me when I’m on a ladder I just give the bee a misting of soap solution and they drop to the ground. I use a small bottle with a heavy duty trigger sprayer. If I set the trigger on stream I can take out a small nest as well.
