gee wiz

OK, a little off the wall here, but I have to do this. It's so aggravating washing the car this time of year. I realize this may be a regional thing, but anyone else having this problem, too?

Our car is white. My wife uses it as her daily driver to work, a State Hospital here in So Cal. At the beginning of each spring season small yellowish brown spots and streaks begin to appear on the car. This year they are incredibly numerous, maybe 100 of them after one week. By Friday the car looks like it has a disease. A buddy that is a beekeeper tells me the spots are bee poop! My wife concurs that she sees bees around and on the car when she leaves for her lunch break. My buddy goes on to explain that the bees think our white car is HOME, since the beehive boxes are white also.

So where am I going with this? Since the "bee poops" have a waxy base, they are impossible to remove with a simple washing. I have to literally scrape each one off with my fingernail when washing the car. Anyone have any suggestions? Keeping a fresh layer of Zaino on the car seems to help a little. It's obvious I don't want to use anything that removes wax.

I know this is a weird post...maybe I'm just more curious if others have the same issues?

ZOSTER33

iTrader: (7)

My wifes Altima also has some yellowish spots on her car all the time but we attribute that to her being to close to railroad tracks. Never heard the Bee Poop thing though....interesting!

sniper27

iTrader: (2)

I have them too. It's from the pollen from the trees.

gee wiz

I used to think that, too, then my wife said she parks in an open lot with no trees. There is a definite waxy structure to these spots. If you smear them on the surface of the car you will see the water being repelled on those areas when you hose it down. My buddy is pretty well versed on his bee keeping and is absolutely certain it is bee poop. He said their systems naturally produce a waxy substance for building their hives and it is also expelled in their poop.

sniper27

iTrader: (2)

that could be it too. i thought it was some kind of bird poop at first. but makes more sense to be bees since they are little yellow spots. most bird poops look like they had a bean and cheese burrito with a couple of bud lights the night before. it could be from the wind blowing the pollen from trees nearby if you're parked in an open area. we've been getting some winds lately in s. cal.

pdpMIATA

Now that you mention it, i always find bees and bugs all over my car whenever it gets a fresh wash/wax. Im paranoid thinking the wax is made with honey hahaha
I dont seem to get any bee poop but I definitely get my share of bugs.

Rad_Slinger

iTrader: (12)

Bee poop. Another reason to get a black car.

BLamb

iTrader: (1)

The bugs seem to love my car after a fresh wax, but no bee poop haha. Plenty of smashed bugs all over the front right now though, front seems to be covered in bug guts everytime I take it out

sniper27

iTrader: (2)

now that you mention it, i always see bees around my white car also. same with the other 2 white cars. weird.

gee wiz

Well, well, just did a little searching and found this:
Yellow Spots On Car | What's behind spots on autos? - Los Angeles Times

sniper27

iTrader: (2)

darn bees.

TOGWT

Bee pollen-sam (Bee bread, pollen or ambrosia) has been shown to contain 188 kinds of fungi and 29 kinds of bacteria.
Pollen is the main source of food for most honey bees and their larvae, consisting of honey and pollens which are gathered by the worker bees. Like honey and Propolis, other well-known honey bee products, the exact chemical composition of pollen gathered depends on which plants the worker bees are gathering the pollen from.

The common European honey bees (Apis mellifera) excrete minute gold / yellow globs while flying to or from their hives. These tiny, sticky globs differ from pollen grains (Micro gametophytes) which is a fine yellow or green powdered dust

[Sometimes a bee sees a better pollen sources and dumps what's he's carrying in mid-air to make room for the good stuff. Or they hit turbulence and jettison their load] George Holeso, president of the Hawaii Beekeepers Association.

Excrement Removal - these sometimes feel like they are in the clear coat, when in fact they have more than likely been covered with a wax or sealant. To remove these tiny globs without causing scratches; use a product that contains a surfactant; this will lessen surface scratching as they ‘lift’ dust etc into the media used avoiding surface friction, apply very little surface pressure, dusting with long strokes in one direction only (use a solution of Optimum no-rinse (ONR) diluted 1:20 / distilled water in a fine mist spray bottle) and allow to react time as this will soften debris and allow it to be removed

Use a long nap micro fibre towel to ensure the debris that is lifted from the paint surface remains in the nap and not on the towel surface thereby causing surface marring.

Shake the towel occasionally to ensure any particles picked up will drop out rather than come to the surface while you’re using it. Do not scrub hardened/dried excrement residue, as it can cause scratching, once it softened (re-liquefied) Do not use on a hot paint surface (soon after driving) as this will cause streaking

gee wiz

Hey, thanks for the info! I'll order a bottle of Optimum and give it a try.

blueslate11

We have the bee problem in suburban Philly. I've used spray detailer, letting it sit for a while on each spot, then removed with a microfiber. Stubborn spots might need a second treatment. Try not to let the spots bake on the finish - I know, easier said than done.