She Ping
ChinaShi Ping: The Bee Man
Shi Ping, a beekeeper and farmer from Chongqing, a southwestern city in China, attempted to set a new record for the number of bees collected on a human body. He transformed himself into a living structure teeming with bees, weighing a total of 33.1 kg. However, this weight was not enough to break the world record. The Chinese experimenter used a queen bee to gather approximately 331,000 bees on his body, surpassing the achievement of his compatriot Ruan Liangming, who managed to assemble a bee suit weighing 26.8 kg in 2008.
Other Beekeeping Competitions
According to the English newspaper 'Daily Mail', in 2011, during a traditional 'hour duet' competition, 42-year-old beekeeper Wang Dalin collected bees weighing a total of 26.8 kg while competing against 20-year-old beekeeper Lu Kongjiang, who collected 22.9 kg. On the same exotic competition, one month earlier in June 2011, beekeeper Zhang Xinglun participated. 'The Sun' reported that Xinglun once managed to gather a swarm weighing 37.9 kg on his body. The bees are attracted to the contestants by the queen bee, which is attached to the body in a small cage. Usually, participants only wear shorts and insert cotton swabs into their nostrils to prevent bees from crawling inside. Some participants also choose to wear protective goggles for extra safety.
Shi Ping's Journey
Shi Ping revealed that he first released bees on his body in 2008. At that time, the total weight of the bee mass was 11 kg. The beekeeper assures that his current record of 33.1 kg is far from his limit, and someday the Guinness World Records will include his achievement in their book. He also shared that not a single bee has stung him while he was gaining weight. Currently, the world record for wearing the "heaviest bee mantle" belongs to Indian citizen Vipin Seth. This record was established in 2009 at the Indian Agriculture Research Institute in New Delhi. Seth's living garment was made up of 613,500 bees, weighing 61.4 kg. In total, 54 colonies of bees were used. In order to surpass this achievement, Shi Ping must improve his current best performance by almost twice the weight.
