# Urinal bees? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 29, 2008, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-bees/474903 "2008-11-29T07:32:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-bees/474903/21 "2008-11-29T19:12:03Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > This is [more than just a rumor](http://www.emedicinehealth.com/black_widow_spider_bite/article_em.htm). Your cite says that black widows may be found in outhouses. It does not say that they wait under the toilet seats in outhouses to bite people on the butt. The likelyhood of getting bitten is not going to change much if one hovers instead of simply sitting. Looking at where you’re about to sit would also be quite a good preventative measure. It would also prevent me from getting yelled at for leaving the toilet seat up in the house. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-bees/474903/22 "2008-11-29T20:00:28Z")
> [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > Your cite says that black widows may be found in outhouses. It does not say that they wait under the toilet seats in outhouses to bite people on the butt. The likelyhood of getting bitten is not going to change much if one hovers instead of simply sitting. Well, thank you kindly for not straying from the most literal interpretation possible. I trust we may agree that since black widows like dark, damp places and are known to be found in outhouses, simply being in one raises one’s risk of being bitten, however slightly, compared to using indoor bathrooms, running on a treadmill or sipping a latte at Starbucks. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-bees/474903/23 "2008-11-29T21:32:17Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Well, thank you kindly for not straying from the most literal interpretation possible. > > I trust we may agree that since black widows like dark, damp places and are known to be found in outhouses, simply being in one raises one’s risk of being bitten, however slightly, compared to using indoor bathrooms, running on a treadmill or sipping a latte at Starbucks. Indeed, using a bathroom (indoors or not) while running on a threadmill and sipping a latte (decaf or not) does increase one’s chances of accidents (arachnid or not). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-bees/474903/24 "2008-11-29T21:48:55Z")
The ones in Schipol are flies, not bees, I’m sure of it - I don’t think they’re meant to represent anything other than a target. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-bees/474903/25 "2008-12-01T09:05:00Z")
Fascinating stuff, heh. And, yeah, Chronos, the target thing never occurred to me for some reason. I always pissed above or below them at the areas that (according to experience) seemed less likely to cause splashback. Now, just to be a skeptical asshole, can anyone provide a hard cite? It’s not that I doubt that they’re useful targets, but I still wonder whose idea it was to make 'em and stick 'em. I’m _pretty_ sure they were stickers and not part of the original design, but I emailed Sloan and am waiting for a response… ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-bees/474903/26 "2008-12-01T14:01:48Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Well, thank you kindly for not straying from the most literal interpretation possible. > > I trust we may agree that since black widows like dark, damp places and are known to be found in outhouses, simply being in one raises one’s risk of being bitten, however slightly, compared to using indoor bathrooms, running on a treadmill or sipping a latte at Starbucks. 😕 How else am I supposed to interpret the following dialog? > [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > The likelyhood of getting bitten is not going to change much if one hovers instead of simply sitting. Which was in response to this post: > [@KRC](#): > > There was the rumor when I was a kid that Black Widow spiders hid in outdoor potties, \*\*just waiting to bite you on the butt. > \*\* > This led to a lot of messes in the latrine at girl scout camp, since **no one would sit down.** To which you said: > [@Jackmannii](#): > > This is [more than just a rumor](http://www.emedicinehealth.com/black_widow_spider_bite/article_em.htm). Of course the likelihood is going to increase in the outhouse, but like I said, the likelihood is not going to change from hovering instead of sitting? I’m not sure what you’re going on about. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-bees/474903/27 "2008-12-01T18:54:02Z")
We have bees in our urinals at work. We were told that we should aim at the bees. These urinals, I should note are [Falcon Waterfree Urinals](http://www.falconwaterfree.com/flash.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-bees/474903/28 "2008-12-01T21:22:21Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > From the thread title, I was expecting it to be about a strange species of small fly that I have only seen in public restrooms (particularly in Texas), hanging about the urinals. > > Maybe they subsist on urinal cake. Little, black or dark gray, fuzzy, heart-shaped? [Drain flies](http://bluestarbugs.com/library/2DrainFly.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-bees/474903/29 "2008-12-02T13:49:50Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > … **LSLGuy** , when were those Fonda stickers “in the wild”? Are we talking Vietnam era, or more recently? This was the mid-late 80s. Most of the Viet Nam era folks had retired / separated by then, but nearly all of the E-8 or O-6 and above were Viet Nam era vets. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-bees/474903.md?page=1)