I'm not sure why the reputation of a newscaster wearing
hair gel is being maligned-- is the prejudice against male
cosmetic users or media folks?  Regardless:
 
     When one is stung by a honeybee, membranes in the venom sac
of the bee rupture and release pheromones at the wound which will
guide other defending bees to the spot-- inciting them, too, to
sting.  It should come as little surprise then, that one of the
first tricks of the trade that a beekeeper learns is that, when
stung, the sting should be removed immediately and the area of
the wound should be dosed with a few puffs of smoke-- which
serves to mask the odor that will attract other bees to the
wound.  The pheromone can also be released when alarmed workers
open their sting chambers in response to some perceived threat.
Most beekeepers are familiar with the odor, similar to bananas,
which can waft up from a hive that has been disturbed, and from
which most wise beekeepers learn to make a careful retreat.  An
acquaintance once swore to me that a number of bees entered
through an open window of a chemical laboratory where he was
working and stung the researchers there-- they had been preparing
banana oil (amyl acetate), a close cousin to the isoamyl acetate
which is the major component of alarm pheromone.
 
     I'd imagine that some of the "tropical blends" of shampoos
or hair gels might contain amyl acetate or maybe even isoamyl
acetate to give it an odor of bananas.  Not the kinds of things
I'd want to use before entering an apiary-- of course, I'm way to
macho to use male cosmetic products anyway ;-)
 
        -              Conrad Berube
       "  `            ISLAND CROP MANAGEMENT
       "   `           1326 Franklin Terrace
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