Eating Murder Hornets! Most Painful Bug Rituals

0:00 Around the world some of the most painful

0:03 rituals ever performed don't involve fire or blades.

0:06 They involve insects.

0:08 From bullet ants to giant murder hornets,

0:11 today we're diving into the most painful and extreme insect rituals

0:16 ever performed and why anyone would ever sign up to endure them.

0:21 So let's begin.

0:23 There are more than 20,000 known species of bees

0:26 and bees are found on every continent except Antarctica.

0:30 Most are harmless pollinators, some barely sting at all,

0:34 but a few species possess venom so powerful

0:37 that they can send people to the hospital or worse.

0:40 In fact, when it comes to human fatalities,

0:42 bees are among the most dangerous stinging insects on the planet.

0:47 Species like the Africanized honeybee, often called the killer bee,

0:51 are responsible for hundreds of deaths worldwide through

0:54 massive envenomation where venom overload overwhelms the body.

0:58 And yet, despite this danger in parts of Africa and Asia,

1:02 humans don't just fear the bees or harvest their honey.

1:05 They use them as a stinging tool.

1:08 These rituals are known as the bee venom ceremonies.

1:12 Participants are both men and women and are

1:15 guided by the traditional healer or spiritual leader.

1:18 The bees are placed on specific areas of the body,

1:21 most often joints, shoulders, arms, and along the spine.

1:25 The number of stings is carefully controlled.

1:29 For first time participants,

1:30 they might only receive as little as one to three stings.

1:34 But for more experienced individuals,

1:35 they might get up to 10 stings in a single session.

1:39 Once stung, the pain is a sharp burning pinch followed by some throbbing.

1:44 The stinger may be removed right away or briefly left in place

1:47 to allow even more venom to drain fully into the wound.

1:51 Over the next several hours, participants often experience intense swelling,

1:55 stiffness, fatigue, and sometimes fever like symptoms.

1:59 This largely depends on how many stings were administered.

2:04 In traditional belief systems, these reactions aren't just seen as an injury,

2:08 they are seen as the body responding, cleansing and rehabilitating itself.

2:13 But the danger, oh, the danger is very real.

2:18 Today we know that bee venom in particular,

2:20 is capable of triggering severe allergic

2:23 reactions that can lead to anaphylactic shock.

2:26 And this can happen into individuals with no warning.

2:30 And here's the really scary thing.

2:31 People can develop a more severe bee allergy over time,

2:36 and if one of the participants did have

2:38 a severe reaction and went into anaphylactic shock,

2:41 the ritual would be stopped and traditional remedies would be used.

2:45 But survival depends largely on the individual and where they're located.

2:49 Alright, if you thought bee venom was intense, well,

2:53 this next ritual includes the insect that has the most

2:57 painful sting on the Brave Wilderness bite sting index.

3:00 That's right.

3:01 This one's all about the king of sting.

3:04 Now, not every insect ritual in the world was or is centered around pain.

3:09 In the forest and mountains of rural Japan,

3:12 one of the most feared insects on the planet flies free.

3:16 We're talking about the giant murder hornet.

3:19 These hornets are infamous for their massive size,

3:22 extreme aggression and powerful venom,

3:24 and they will relentlessly defend their nests.

3:28 Human encounters with them have been deadly,

3:30 especially during swarmed attacks where victims have received

3:33 dozens of stings within a matter of minutes.

3:36 So surviving an encounter with one is never guaranteed,

3:40 and that is exactly why the giant murder hornet is always to be respected.

3:45 In the mountainous regions near Tottori Prefecture,

3:48 some communities have developed a longstanding

3:50 relationship with these giant hornets, but not by using their sting.

3:54 Instead, they choose to consume them.

3:57 Rather than seeing the hornet as something to worship or fear alone,

4:01 these communities believed that it embodies strength,

4:04 endurance, and raw vitality.

4:06 Qualities that can be transferred to the body through consumption.

4:09 So this isn't about punishment or pain,

4:11 it's about taking the power from one of the most

4:15 formidable insects on the planet and transferring it to another body.

4:18 Hornets are often collected during specific seasons.

4:21 The larvae are commonly cooked with rice,

4:24 while adults are sometimes fried and preserved in alcohol.

4:27 Creating hornet infused drinks believed to boost energy

4:30 and resilience rooted in traditions influenced by Shinto beliefs.

4:35 The thought is simple.

4:36 If the insect survives through aggression and power,

4:39 then consuming it means absorbing that power,

4:42 even if the insect is loaded up with one

4:44 of the most intense and potent hornet venoms on the planet.

4:49 And oddly enough, the brave team and I actually had the opportunity to partake

4:53 in this ritual after filming the Murder Hornet Challenge last year in Japan.

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5:55 All right, now back to action.

5:58 While my arm was still swollen and I was writhing in agony,

6:01 our guide Richard brought us to a small restaurant in Tottori.

6:04 And sure enough, it was none other than

6:06 a giant bowl of sauteed and fried giant murder hornets.

6:11 And unfortunately for us, it would've been very rude to not

6:15 honor these ancient and well guarded traditions.

6:17 So we had to dig in.

6:20 I had hoped that some of the legends were true,

6:22 and that maybe eating a murder hornet would actually help combat the venom

6:26 and the histamines that were absolutely driving

6:29 my body crazy and inflaming my entire arm.

6:33 Now, I will say I was a tad reluctant at first,

6:35 but I have eaten insects In the past.

6:38 The murder hornet actually tasted pretty good

6:41 and a whole lot like stir fried rice.

6:43 Even Chris was actually surprised by the delightful taste,

6:47 and he felt the soy sauce helped overcome

6:49 his sense of consuming the murder hornet's venom.

6:52 Unfortunately, not everyone on the team

6:54 made it through this experience unscathed.

6:57 Asa's stomach completely rejected the insects,

7:00 and he sadly ended up vomiting up his meal all the way back to the hotel.

7:05 Sorry, Asa.

7:06 So as the team found out,

7:08 consuming cooked giant murder hornets was actually rather tasty.

7:13 But this next ritual, I assure you,

7:16 will not be tasteful or the least bit enjoyable to any human ever.

7:21 Among some indigenous groups in what is now northern Mexico,

7:25 large quantities of insects have been consumed for ceremonial reasons.

7:30 One ritual in particular had young men consuming venomous

7:34 stinging insects all while they were still fully alive.

7:40 Under the supervision of elders,

7:42 young men would ingest large quantities of red harvester ants,

7:46 sometimes by the dozens.

7:48 Now, not as food mind you, but as part of an ancient tradition.

7:53 This ritual is extremely painful and intense.

7:57 If you could just imagine the ants would

7:59 bite and sting as they were being swallowed,

8:02 releasing their toxic venom that would rapidly

8:05 affect the body of the participant within minutes,

8:07 they would often enter a weakened trance-like state,

8:10 marked by nausea, exhaustion, and the intentional hallucinations.

8:16 Entering this altered state of consciousness was

8:18 the entire point of performing the ritual itself.

8:23 Consuming the ants was believed to summon what is known as a dream helper.

8:27 Spiritual allies meant to guide the individual

8:29 through adulthood hunting and life decisions.

8:33 This wasn't about proving toughness in front

8:35 of the elders by eating living harvester ants.

8:38 It was all about a transformation using insects

8:41 in their venom to open one's mind to the spiritual realm.

8:45 I can't even imagine the pain of swallowing a stinging harvester ant,

8:49 not to mention dozens of times.

8:52 Speaking of unbearable pain, we have now finally arrived to the absolute

8:57 worst insect ritual ever performed to a human body.

9:01 And it still happens even today,

9:03 deep within the Amazon pushing human endurance to its absolute limit.

9:09 Among the Satere-Mawe people of the Amazon

9:12 young males must endure the Tucandeira initiation rite.

9:17 Or as we like to call it, the bullet ant glove ritual.

9:21 That's right.

9:21 These gloves are worn with live bullet ants woven inside of them.

9:26 The bullet ant is an insect whose sting is considered

9:29 one of the most painful ever recorded in the insect kingdom.

9:33 The bullet ants are first collected by hunters and then are temporarily sedated.

9:39 This allows them to be woven alive

9:42 into the palm fiber gloves with their stingers facing inward.

9:47 However, by the time the ceremony begins,

9:50 the ants have woken up and are aggressive and ready to sting.

9:55 To start the ritual, the candidate places both hands into the gloves

9:59 and then must dance continuously for 10 full minutes,

10:04 enduring dozens and dozens of simultaneous stings.

10:08 The pain is immediate and overwhelming.

10:11 Participants have reported uncontrollable shaking,

10:14 temporary paralysis, hallucinations, and nerve pain that can last for days.

10:21 So why would anyone in their right mind

10:23 be willing to endure such a tormenting situation?

10:27 Well, that's because in the Satere-Mawe culture,

10:31 enduring pain is part of proving one's readiness for adulthood.

10:36 Surviving the bullet and gloves isn't about punishment,

10:39 it's about demonstrating discipline,

10:41 endurance and control over fear and the body itself.

10:46 But here's the part that surprises most people.

10:48 This ritual isn't just performed once in a lifetime.

10:52 To be fully recognized as a man,

10:55 the ritual must be repeated up to 20 times over the course of several years.

11:02 Now, I have been stung by bullet ants in the past,

11:04 but I've only taken one sting at a time,

11:08 even though one of those stings was for a full 60 seconds.

11:12 And let me tell you that experience alone makes me never

11:15 want to take another bullet ant sting as long as I live.

11:22 So needless to say, this ritual sounds absolutely terrifying.

11:28 So whether it was enduring pain to prove

11:29 you were ready for adulthood or for medicinal purposes,

11:33 these rituals all shared the same belief:

11:35 nature withholds great power can be faced, endured, and even consumed.

11:41 And who knows, maybe after surviving a giant murder,

11:43 hornet sting and then consuming one in a traditional Japanese meal,

11:47 even I am better off for doing so.

11:50 Or maybe not.

11:51 I guess only time will tell.