A Chinese beekeeper has set a new Guinness World Record by covering himself with 109.05kg (17st 2oz) of crawling bees.

Gao Bingguo, from Tai'an City in east China's Shandong Province, has been a beekeeper for more than 30 years.

The 55-year old began the challenge on Monday morning, helped by other beekeepers who swamped him with large balls of bees from hundreds of hives

In order to attract the bees, Mr Gao attached dozens of queen bees to his body.

He managed to break the record within an hour, the judges revealed.

"After we checked and searched database, and witnessed it at scene, we announce, Mr Gao Bingguo successfully breaks the record," said judge Luo Xing.

The previous record of 83.5kg (13st 2oz) was set by fellow beekeeper Zhang Wei from China's northwestern Shaanxi Province.

Ten thousand bees are said to weigh approximately one kilo, so it works out that Mr Gao's body was covered by about 1.1 million bees at one point.