To Sell His Honey, Chinese Man Covers His Entire Body in Bees

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She Ping, a 34 year-old local beekeeper, covered himself with a swarm of bees on a small hill in southwest China's Chongqing on April 9, 2014.

Image: AFP / Stringer

By Alex Magdaleno2014-04-13 02:00:41 UTC

Covering yourself in bees is one way to generate marketing buzz.

She Ping, a Chinese beekeeper and honey merchant, covered his body in more than 460,000 bees in a publicity stunt designed to increase sales of his honey using a technique called "bee bearding."

See also: Follow the Honey: Can we Save the Bees by Tracking Them?

Bee bearding is a global pursuit, but it's especially popular in the city of Chongqing in southwestern China, where She is from. There, other local honey merchants regularly cover themselves head to toe in bees.

The process of attracting the bees in bee bearding starts with placing a queen bee in a small cage that hangs from the person's body. Eventually, the bees swarm over the participant's body. In this case, Ping was only protected by a plastic bag over his head.

"To be honest, I felt very nervous, but I do it to promote my honey," She told the AFP. "I'm used to dealing with bees and started these activities when I was about 22."

She Ping stands still as the more than 460,000 bees begin to cover his entire body in a publicity stunt on April 9, 2014.

In preparation for the stunt, She noted that he avoided taking a shower and using soap because "it can excite the bees."

Collectively, the bees weighed more than 100 pounds (45 kilograms), but it doesn't come close to Vipin Seth's world record for wearing a total of 135 pounds (61.4 kilograms) of bees on Mar. 9, 2009 — according to a Guinness World Record YouTube video of a 2011 attempt to beat Seth's record.

Although She's attempt falls short of Seth's world record, he has given himself the record for carrying out the stunt without any clothes.

"Of the people who do it naked, I'm probably the most awesome," She said.

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Topics: bees, buzz, china, honey, Marketing, US & World, World