A Chinese man has set a new world record for the most number of bees on a human.
Gao Bingguo has been a beekeeper for over 30 years. On Monday, about 240 pounds of bees clung to him, attracted by the dozens of queen bees in boxes attached to the beekeper. Previously, a Chinese man also held the world record at 187 pounds. It is estimated that Gao was so covered in around 1.1 million bees.
The 55-year-old hailing from China's Shandong province was stung more than 2,000 times during his incredible feat. His body temperature also rose to a dangerous 140 degrees Fahrenheit but he pushed through, surviving to beat the earlier world record.
Many people regard bees with caution because of the danger of stings but the truth is not all bees can actually sting. Male bees, for instance, cannot, and the females will not usually attack if they don't feel threatened or provoked.
According to the World Health Organization, in 2000, 54 deaths were attributed to bee stings in the United States. That's a very low number given that there were 281 million people in the country at the time. Based on reports, an individual is likelier to be killed by lightning than a bee sting, what with lightning strikes the cause of death of about 90 people on average each year.
The primary reason why deaths due to bee stings are so rare is because the average person is capable of safely tolerating up to 10 stings for every pound of their body weight. This means that an adult weighing 100 pounds, for instance, will be able to survive through over a thousand stings. Children can withstand less but it would still take 500 stings to deliver a deathly blow to a child.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, most people who believe they are allergic to bees are simply experiencing the usual reaction of the body to a sting. Only about one or two for every 1,000 people in the population are truly hypersensitive or allergic to bee stings.
When stung, it is important to first remove the stinger since muscles in it will continue pumping venom into the body even though the bee has been removed. To remove a stinger, scrape it out with a fingernail, a credit card, or any straight-edged object. Do not use tweezers or fingers to pull it out as this will result in more venom being squeezed out and absorbed by the body.
Photo: Umberto Salvagnin | Flickr
