1.
MV PAN Market stalls in street
0.8

2.
MV People looking on
0.11

3.
CU Bee-keeper taking bees from hive
0.18

4.
CU Honeycomb and honey in bottles PAN UP TO Bee-keeper covered in bees
0.22

5.
MCU Bees crawling over bare arms and chest of bee-keeper
0.29

6.
Local people look on
0.30

7.
MCU Bees swarm over bare chest and face of bee-keeper
0.35

8.
CU Onlookers
0.38

9.
MCU Honeycomb and honey PAN UP TO Bees swarming all over face of bee-keeper
0.48

10.
CU Onlookers
0.50

11.
Bees swarming all over keeper's face making a complete mask
0.56

12.
CU Long haired youth
1.00

13.
CU Bees swarm covering entire face and chest of keeper (2 shots)
1.15


VARIOUS SHOTS OF BEES SWARMING ALL OVER YAP CHU SUN, WATCHED BY APPREHENSIVE CROWD.




Initials NG/1540



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: A bee-keeper in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur has adopted a stinging method of attracting customers for his wares of honeycomb and honey.

The bee-keeper, Yap Chu Sun, takes his bee-swarm from their box and allows the insects to crawl all over his bare chest and face, completely covering him in a living, crawling black shirt and beard.

Mr. Yap operates his business from a small stall in the market district of Kuala Lumpur, where his novel method of selling attracts a large number of onlookers.

However, until the bees are returned to their boxes very few of the prospective customers dare go near the stall.

Mr. Yap has been a bee-keeper for many and says it took a great deal of patience to train the bees to crawl over his body in a swarm without seriously injuring him.

However, he claims the bees are relatively harmless "if you know how to handle them."
Mr. Yap, and his partner, Mr. Tech Boon Koeng, are some of the small but growing band of bee-keepers in Malaysia, which relies for the bulk of its honey and associated products, on imports from Australia and the United States.

Mr. Yap said that with the proper government encouragement, Malaysia could become completely self-sufficient in honey products "and could easily lead to a valuable export market."
Meanwhile Mr. Yap's sales gimmick continues to earn valuable foreign currency from the many tourists who come to see the bees swarm all over him ... and go away loaded with his wares.

SYNOPSIS: The market places in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur are extremely competitive, where stall holders vie to attract the attention of the many people who shop there.

but one man has adopted a novel method of attracting customers to his particular stall.

The man, Mr. Yap Chu Sun, is a bee-keeper and sells honeycomb and honey
But his big attraction are the bees themselves, whom he has trained to crawl all over his body without seriously injuring him.

The sales gimmick attracts many onlookers ... although few dare to come near the stall while the bees are out of their boxes! Mr. Yap has been a bee-keeper for many years and says it took a lot of patience to train the bees to swarm all over him like this.

Long hair and beards are not very common in Malaysia ...but Mr. Yap can create an "instant beard" just by taking his bees from their hive.

Mr. Yap, and his partner, Mr. Tech Boon Koeng, are some of the small but growing band of bee-keepers in Malaysia, which relies for the bulk of its honey imports from Australia and the United States.