Honeybee boffin stings own wedding tackle... for science A Cornell student has researched just how much pain bee stings create by putting the buzzing creatures down his pants and, um, holding them there. Michael Smith's work can be found in this PeerJ paper, which explains how his methodology as follows: “Bees were taken from the cage haphazardly with forceps. To apply the sting, …
Oddly enough, doing this does add to science. We already have the Schmidt sting pain index which rates different insect stings by painfulness; the bullet ant resulting in a 4 and "quivering and screaming from these peristaltic waves of pain".
This is adding a second dimension of where the sting is most painful. If he takes a bullet ant sting to the balls in the name of science, I'll buy him a beer.
Only 382, Coward?
Shirly you should use your singular ability to delve deeper into ElReg's archives. I'm almost certain I can do more than 382 things well.
Yourself? I dunno. You're a Coward who refuses to have anything resembling a face
::chuckles::
[0] Seriously, ElReg, that time stamp is kinda handy.
According to http://forums.theregister.co.uk/user/66387/
"mahasamatman" has made a total of ten posts, starting with this post 7+ months ago:
http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/containing/1945049
It seems it misses Eadon. Poor thing.
How about actually contributing to the forum, "mahasamatman"? If you have anything to contribute, that is. However, so far I see nothing in evidence that suggests that you contribute anything other than noise. Prove me wrong; it'll do you a world of good. If you are incapable ... well, what can I say.
Where did I say I was an "expert beekeeper", Coward?
My family has been farming here in Northern California since the late 1870s. We have been keeping bees most of that time. Keeping pollinators around is kinda handy when you grow almost all of your own veg.
Doesn't make me an expert, I'm just a farmer.
Evil Auditor,
Cheating? Well maybe. But as Simon Harris has so handily volunteered, it would be a shame to waste his offer.
We'll sit him down in front of that 70s classic movie Volerball. Have a ferret through his trousers, and then start things off nice and weaselly. Moving up through the sizes, and see how much he can bear.
[I think I'm missing I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue...]
not really sure what has been gained from this study, its one of those classic studying the bleedy obvious! Even someone who knows sod all about bee stings could have had a pretty good guess as to the pain thresholds of various parts of the body. I heard the bloke interviewed on Radio 5 and he said he was hoping that the study would help pain research. What showing that your forearm or head isn’t as sensitive as you’re old chap or the inside of your nose. What a revelation!
I call bollocks
Some bee stings are more painful than others on a bee-by-bee basis, not just on where you get stung.
Some cause more swelling than others, again on a bee-by-bee basis.
Even bees from the same hive (where at least the queen is the same, though dad might be different) the sting will vary.
So to be a scientist, this bloke needs to prick his todger a few more times to make sure his data is not just a one-off abberation. At least 10 or so samples will make a crude bell curve.
BTW: Forceps to get out a beesting is a daft idea. Use a knife or even a fingernail. The forceps squeeze in more poison.
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