Clovermead's 10th Annual Bee Beard Competition Sweet for Charities

Photos by Mark Girdauskas

All of the contestants at Clovermead’s 10th Annual Bee Beard Competition exhibited nerves of steel, gaining the crowd’s respect along with a few pounds of chin-adorning bees. Each also won money for their favourite charity and two became this year's Judge's Choice and People’s Choice Champions.

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As the crowd gathered, MC and Clovermead co-owner Chris Hiemstra explained that such competitions have roots in the old-time country fairs where beekeepers displayed bee beards in a clever marketing ploy to attract buyers for their honey. (Hmmm … perhaps nothing much has changed – the Clovermead Honey Shop did see several honey purchases by those departing after this event).

The secret to initiating a good bee beard is to get bees to go where bees like to go – to the queen bee. This is done by tying a caged queen to each contestant’s chin, whilst the bee groomers gently encourage bees from the hive in the right direction, with the judicious use of a smoker to keep the little buzzers in good humour.

This year’s international line-up of contestants included Nuria Morrison (from Mexico, bee groomer Paul Kelly), Boaz Ben Zeev (special guest all the way from Israel, bee groomer Albert Devries), Ken Vandendool (from Aylmer, bee groomer Amsey McEown) and John Hiemstra (from Woodstock, bee groomer, his brother, Henry Hiemstra).

Weighing of contestants before and after their bee-decking allows the judges to factor weight into their determination of a winner – they also consider beard form and a swagger-dance walk by each contestant down the straw-bale catwalk with as much style as they dare. (Bees don’t tend to like sudden jerky movements.)

This year, Nuria and Ken along with their groomers managed to ‘grow’ beards of the top two weights. Nuria got the judges unanimous vote for Bee Beard Champion for her well-formed bee beard and dancing style. Ken’s hefty 6-lb beard and “interesting” dance style was chosen Crowd Favourite Champion.

Above: Bee Beard contestants need all the support they can get (though most family and friends say they wouldn't go so far as to trade places with them). Ken Vandendool's wife and daughters (Joralyn, Paddi & Brooke) take photos (row 1); Nuria's friends from the Bee Research Centre in Guelph look on (row 2). (RE Photos) 

Not surprisingly, most bee beard contestants receive a sting or two in the process – through the generosity of Clovermead and the competitor’s willingness to “take a sting for charity” prizes of $2,500, $2,000, and two $500 amounts go to charities of the contestant’s choosing.

Clovermead is located just north of Aylmer. Find out more about the Adventure Farm and Honey Shop at www.clovermead.com. See more of Mark's photos from the Bee Beard Competition ...