Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Sting Operation

This study conducted by a Cornell graduate student has to rate as one of the biggest wastes of time and effort in the name of research that I have heard of. Michael Smith (nickname Lumpy) studies bees and wanted to know where the most painful place to be stung was. Everyday for 38 days he made a bee sting him on a different part of his body (25 different spots) each spot was stung 3 different times with an additional sting on his forearm for control purposes,a total of 190 stings. His conclusions: the most painful spot was the nose,ranking 9 on a pain scale of 1-10,lips were next,penis at 7.3 and testicles,cheek,palm and armpit all coming in at 7. The problem I have with this study (other than the bees being killed) is the pain is going to vary for each individual,and to me the worst part of a bee sting is after the sting when it starts healing and the itching begins. I can tell you from experience neither the butt nor the bottom of the foot are good places to be stung once the itching starts.

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