And you thought shaving stung! Man battle it out to see who can cultivate the biggest beard of BEES
In the 9th Annual Bee Beard Competition held in Ontario, Canada competitors covered their faces with bees to form a 'beard'
The person with the heaviest and more aesthetically pleasing bee beard is declared the winner
Competitors place a queen bee in a cage around their neck to attract the rest of the colony to land on their upper body
This year's winner was Canadian college student Justin Hiemstra
Facial hair can be itchy and uncomfortable, but nothing quite compares to the beards several brave souls donned at Clovermead Adventure Farm near Ontario, Canada.
At the annual Clovermead Bee Beard Competition contestants heads and upper torsos are covered by 'beards' made up of thousands of the buzzing insects.
Now in its 9th year, contestants cover themselves in bees and then strut their insect facial fashions on the catwalk for gathered crowds.
Bees flock on to the contestants faces and upper torsos around their queen as the recognize and are drawn to her scent, the BBC reports.
Veteran competitors use petrolatum, a substance bees avoid, to help sculpt and 'grow' their bee beards into particular shapes, the news organization goes on to report.
In addition, to keep the participants from being stung the bee keepers keep the colonies well feed with sugar water and sedate the bees with smoke before letting them amass on the contestants.
This year's competitiors included everyone from middle-aged adults to University students.
The 2013 winner was Justin Hiemstra, who won for having the heaviest beard, according to Ruptly.com. Marenda Schipper was also recognized for her beard's atheistic with the 2013 Judge's Choice Award.