Alice wrote:

<< The first urban legend that I heard (in the 60's) was a variation of the beehive hairdo story. They way I heard it, the woman had ratted up her hair and sprayed it well with hairspray to keep the shape for many days without having to shampoo and restyle. It was a black widow that built its nest there, and KILLED HER. This was another way to keep us girls from trying any of those naughty new fashion trends.>>

There's another variation that was sent to me wherein the woman's brains were eaten by rats. The reason being that she had used sugar-water to "fix" her beehive hairdo in place.

The legend is posted at: http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/blbyol18.htm

-David