Bee Bearding - Yet Another Bizarre Contest!

Over the years, we have come across some bizarre competitions ranging from nettle eating to toe wrestling and even pillow fighting. However, one of the strangest and in our view scariest, has to be the bee bearding competitions that seem to be rapidly gaining popularity in many countries around the world.

The whole premise of the contest is to see who can attract the most bees onto their bodies and, since it is impossible to physically count them, contestants are weighed before and after the event - The one with the biggest weight gain (from bees) takes home the coveted title of bee beard champion!

The most recent contest took place in China's Hunan Province. On Sunday, July 17th, two brave men faced off against each other in an attempt to not only win this competition, but also, try break the world record for attracting the largest number of bees.

42-year old beekeeper Wang Dalin and 20-year old farmer Lv Kongjiang stripped down to their shorts and then, with the help of some queen bees, began the process of accumulating as many of the insects as they could.

While they both succeeded fabulously, it was the more experienced beekeeper Wang, who managed to attract more of the buzzing insects - 28.68 kg (63.23lbs) of them to be exact! The young farmer did not do too shabbily either with a collection of 22.9kg (50lbs) of bees. However, neither was able to break the all time record of American bee maestro Mark Biancaniello, who managed to wear a whopping 39.5kg (87lbs) of the buzzing insects in 2008.

The sport of bee-bearding (if one can call it a sport) was invented in Russia in the 1830's, when competitors attracted bees to their faces with the help of one strategically placed queen bee. Over the years, adventure seekers have extended it to include their entire body in an attempt to attract as many bees as they can - Pretty Bee-ierd isn't it?

Resources: dailymail.co.uk, metro.co.uk, guardian.co.uk