The Worst Places To Be Stung By A Bee

Our readers may be able to guess at least one of the most painful places to be stung by a bee.

But if you want the research to back it up, intrepid researcher Michael Smith, a graduate student at Cornell University, says that the three worst places to be stung by a bee are as follows: The nostril, the lip and the penis.

National Geographic has more on how Smith stung himself for science:

Smith was methodical. He collected bees by grabbing their wings “haphazardly with forceps” and pressing them against the body part of choice. He left the stinger there for a full minute before removing it, and then rated his pain on a scale of 1 to 10. Pain is very hard to measure, but psychological studies have found that numerical scales do a decent job of putting numbers on an inherently subjective experience.

As io9 notes, at least two of the best or least painful places to be stung (skull, middle toe, upper-arm) are spots that are also most likely to be covered by hair or clothing.

For more on Smith's research, go to NatGeo.