So. Californians - what is this yellowish stuff that seems to fall from the sky?

**Chaseme** · 05-06-2010, 04:09 AM

What is this yellowish stuff that always ends up on my car overnight?

I have to park outside but I regularly find this yellowish substance on my car (and other cars for that matter). It usually looks like this long strip. Sometimes it`s circular. I assume it`s some kind of pollen of some sort.

**imported_mystic04** · 05-06-2010, 04:43 AM

Called Pollen from the tree`s and flowers

**WaxManRonnie** · 05-06-2010, 07:18 AM

Suppose to be very bad this year. More than the last few.

**offcenter** · 05-06-2010, 07:42 AM

Originally Posted by Chaseme

What is this yellowish stuff that always ends up on my car overnight?

I have to park outside but I regularly find this yellowish substance on my car (and other cars for that matter). It usually looks like this long strip. Sometimes it`s circular. I assume it`s some kind of pollen of some sort.

I get the same yellow spots on my car daily. I don`t think it`s pollen, pollen is soft and powdery. This stuff sticks like bird poop and can also leave some etching. It has to be from some bird of some kind. I hate the stuff.:grrr

**Marj** · 05-06-2010, 07:50 AM

Originally Posted by rad21

I get the same yellow spots on my car daily. I don`t think it`s pollen, pollen is soft and powdery. This stuff sticks like bird poop and can also leave some etching. It has to be from some bird of some kind. I hate the stuff.:grrr

I believe its insect poop, not sure which flying insect, maybe bee.

**BluBrett** · 05-06-2010, 07:52 AM

I get this stuff all the time. It`s so sticky that a power washer won`t take it off, you have to QD it off after power washing! I always have at least one little goop of it on my garaged car that gets driven about 10 miles per day.

**offcenter** · 05-06-2010, 08:20 AM

I did a google search and found this:

Not a joke! Everyone--at least in California--notices the little yellow-gold dots on their cars. People complain they are very hard to get rid of, and wonder what they are. An intrepid Los Angeles Times columnist, Ralph Vartabedian, has done a bit of investigative reporting, and here`s what he found.

Almost everybody I know has those yellow spots on their cars, though the wildfires this past week have created a more urgent and more serious problem for car paint.

I had always assumed the yellow spots were some kind of vile condensation of Southern California smog -- a combination of carcinogens from a Carson oil refinery, out-gassing from a plastics factory, a pinch of diesel soot from the port, and the entire concoction held together with a salty Pacific Ocean mist.

I feared those yellow spots were burning holes right through my clear coat and eating into the sheet metal like a titanium drill bit. And yes, they don`t easily wash off. I`ve been tempted to use a Brillo pad, but I never reached that level of desperation.

To solve this mystery I went to a couple of auto body experts, all of whom had seen the yellow spots, but nobody in the paint business could offer an authoritative answer to what or who caused them. Everybody, however, seems to agree that they fall from the sky.

So I went to the superagency that manages our air, the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The scientists at AQMD are on top of this one. They have seen the yellow spots, collected samples, put them under a microscope and have concluded they are bee pollen, said agency spokeswoman Tina Cherry.

I wondered why bees would drop their pollen, when they should be carrying it back to the hive to make honey. AQMD`s explanation seemed close but not quite correct. Susan Cobey, a research associate at the UC Davis bee laboratory, said it is not pollen but bee poop -- or more politely, digested pollen.

"The bees mix the pollen with a little bit of honey and put it in a basket on their legs, so it is in there pretty securely and doesn`t fall out," Cobey said.

**Innovative Detailing** · 05-06-2010, 09:09 AM

Here is a little something on those mysterious yellow globs that fall from the sky........

Honey Bee Excrement

Honey Bee Excrement 2

**offcenter** · 05-06-2010, 09:18 AM

Originally Posted by EliminatorXP

Here is a little something on those mysterious yellow globs that fall from the sky........

Honey Bee Excrement

Honey Bee Excrement 2

Thanks David,

Nice link, that proves it`s bee poop! I can`t wait for the next new product- BPR, Bee Poop Remover, just spray it on the yellow spot and watch it disappear before your eyes....

**Innovative Detailing** · 05-06-2010, 09:26 AM

Originally Posted by rad21

Thanks David,

Nice link, that proves it`s bee poop! I can`t wait for the next new product- BPR, Bee Poop Remover, just spray it on the yellow spot and watch it disappear before your eyes....

Your very welcome!......BTW they already have one.....your fingernail.....lol

**De WALTER** · 05-06-2010, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by EliminatorXP

Your very welcome!......BTW they already have one.....your fingernail.....lol

:woohoo: Now thats some funny "stuff"

**Chaseme** · 05-06-2010, 06:01 PM

Well I must say it`s a relief to hear I`m not the only one who deals with it.

Bee pollen poop makes sense; and I agree with EliminatorXP, I use my fingernail to remove it. It comes off pretty clean.

Thanks for the help guys.

**Setec Astronomy** · 05-06-2010, 08:09 PM

Well, it`s good to know the bees are making a comeback after we almost killed them off with #16.

**15951** · 05-06-2010, 08:56 PM

I feel like I`ve just witnessed the solution to one of life`s great mysteries. I get these all the time in the spring, and just assumed they were some sort of pollen blob. I guess I was right...