Most people try to avoid bees fearing their painful sting, but 55-year-old Gao Bingguo from Tai'an in Shandong province, China, set a world record on Monday by having himself covered in no less than 1.1 million bees.

Gao is no novice to the honey-making insects, having worked as a beekeeper for more than 30 years.

He also isn't a rookie when it comes to taking on strange challenges with bees, having broken a previous record last year when he had 326,000 of them put on his upper body.

This time, in an attempt that was observed and confirmed by a delegation of the Carrying the Flag World Records organization, he first had around 12 queens bees put on his body to attract more of the yellow bugs, with helpers pouring huge quantities of them on him.

During the course of roughly an hour, no less than 109.05 kilograms (around 240 pounds) of bees were on Gao's body.

Since 10,000 bees are estimated to weigh one kilogram, a full 1.1 million bees are thought to have converged on the beekeeper's body - and yet he didn't lose his cool, nonchalantly smoking a cigarette during the ordeal.

The experience wasn't as sweet as honey, however; according to the Qilu Evening News, Gao was said to have been stung nearly 2,000 times.

In setting a new record Gao broke the previous achievement of a fellow Chinese beekeeper, Zhang Wei from Shaanxi Province in northwestern China. Zhang's record was 83.5 kilograms, meaning he had 835,000 of the furry insects on him.