Bee beards thrill at Clovermead

John Hiemstra, left, was near the start of the process of growing a bee beard groomed by his brother Henry Hiemstra during the 10th World Bee Beard Championship at Clovermead Adventure Farm north of Aylmer Friday evening, July 25. Henry Hiemstra started the apiary at Clovermead many years ago which is now run by his son Chris, his wife Christie and their children. Nuria Morfin of Mexico City was the unanimous winner by the judges. Ms. Morfin is a PHD candidate at the University of Guelph where she is studying environmental biology with a special interest in bees. The crowd favourite was Aylmer’s Ken VandenDool. Ms. Morfin was awarded a trophy and a $2,500 donation in her name to the Honey Bee Research Centre at the University of Guelph. As crowd favourite, Mr. VandenDool’s favourite charity, Ride for Refuge, would receive $2,000 in his name. Ride for Refuge helps the homeless. The other contestants, Boaz Ben Zeev of Tel Aviv, Israel, and Mr. Hiemstra had $500 each donated to the charities of their choice. Mr. Zeev is a fourth generation beekeeper.