is there a way to avoid bee stings while on a bike?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Moon, try taking a half dose of benedryl. It might be just enough to take the worst of the sting effects away without making you feel weird. The goal is just to take the edge off and keep swelling manageable. Apply hydrocortizone cream to the sting often.
Though a few people get worse reactions to stings with each successive sting, actually most people get less of a sting reaction if they get stung a couple times a year.

Honeybees usually just want to be left in peace, they don't typically come after you. A wasp can sting many times, and is always more aggressive.
All bets are off if a bee or wasp gets stuck in your clothes.

A honeybee can only sting once, her stinger with its minute venom sac gets stuck in your skin, and then she dies.
If stung by a honeybee, scrape the tiny stinger out of your skin as quickly as possible. Don't grasp it and pull, but rather scrape it off. That's because the tiny venom sac on the stinger is still pumping venom into your skin, and grasping/pinching it will squeeze more venom in. Scraping pulls it out without pushing more venom into the wound.
If stung by a wasp there will be no stinger embedded in your skin. That's why a wasp can sting over and over.

[Aggie_Ama]

DH reacts much more than I do. He got stung by a yellow jacket a few years back and his hand swollen terribly. I compared it to the little Hamburger Helper guy it was so puffy! That time was so severe he went to the doctor because working outside I was alarmed and worried he might be allergic. The doctor said no he did not need to worry about going into shock but could only recommend benedryl which also makes DH terribly sleepy. Have you tried Benedryl topically? It makes a major difference for me in the itch department.

[pll]

Not even pro riders can escape the fury of bees. In the Vuelta a España, Joaquim Rodriguez, was stung by a bee today, close to one of his eyes. Apparently he could hardly see the finish line:

[moonfroggy]

ouch