People have been left seriously divided after a man revealed why he 'purposefully' stings his wife with a bee.
The internet has been sent into quite the spiral after a beekeeper who goes by the handle @bartons_bees took to Instagram to share a video of him holding a bee and making it sting his missus.
He could be heard telling his wife to 'hold still' before it stung her, prompting her to yell 'ow, motherf**ker!'
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"How does it feel?" he asked, before she responded: "It's fine!"
The beekeeper than removed the stinger and cleaned the area before saying: "Proud of you!"
The overlay text on the video read: "Purposefully stinging my girl."
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In the caption, the beekeeper explained what he was doing was actually helping his wife 'combat' something he dubbed 'Beekeeper’s Wife Syndrome'.
He said: "[The syndrome] occurs when someone, often a beekeeper’s partner, develops a severe allergy to bee stings after repeated micro-exposure to venom - usually from regular contact with the beekeeper’s clothing (like doing shared laundry with a frequent beekeeper) - even if they weren’t allergic before.
"To combat this, a few bee stings a year can help the body build a natural resistance to the venom."
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The beekeeper assured viewers that he had his wife's 'full consent' before adding: "I gave my girl a controlled sting to help strengthen her tolerance, and her reactions to stings have dropped dramatically since we started!"
He also made sure to add a disclaimer to any fellow beekeepers, writing: "If you’re a beekeeper and considering something like this, always proceed with extreme caution.
"Have an epipen nearby, stay close to a hospital, and never attempt this without consulting a medical professional.
"Some people are naturally allergic to bee stings, and this method isn’t suitable for everyone. I’m not endorsing this method for others; I’m simply sharing what has worked for us. Try it at your own risk and only with professional guidance."
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Some people were clearly shocked by the video with one Instagram user hitting out: "The way you flicked that bee is going to haunt me... who does that."
"Poor bee. Why did you kill the bee?" questioned a second, while a third piped up: "Why would you do that? There is a MASSIVE shortage of bees and ur killing them for no reason. This's what SCUM does!"
Speaking about the beekeeper who literally dedicates his life to the critters, another slammed: "You do not care about bees. Gross."
Others, however, were far more understanding with one viewer defending: "People are getting so upset over a single bee while this guy is literally a beekeeper raising tens of not hundreds of thousands of bees personally."
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A second supported: "Very glad you are beekeeping, very glad you are keeping your loved ones safe while doing it. Ignore the negative comments. We impact this planet by existing on it: the iPhones people are commenting on have a sketchy history at best: beekeeping is important keep at it."
And a final Instagram user pointed out: "Dudes whole life is about making bees flourish and people crying about 1 damn bee."
Tyla has reached out to the beekeeper for comment.
Topics: Animals, Environment, Life, Social Media