West Virginia is the home of the Appalachian Mountains, old country roads, the Shenandoah River and… bee beards? Yes, bee beards. More specifically, Charlie and the Amazing Bearding Ladies. 

Charlie Metz is a 73-year-old man from Morgantown, West Virginia, and he has been keeping bees since the late 1980s. After years of beekeeping, Metz has developed a sense of comfort with the bees, which is something that most people can’t say. Metz learned how to do the “bee beard” in 1989 from Steve “The Beeman” Conlon.  

“I saw Steve Conlon. I would say he’s ‘The Beeman’ in West Virginia. Any place he went, he did the Bee beard, and the first time I saw it, I said, ‘Oh, I'd like to do that,’” Metz said. 

Now that Metz is consistently doing the beard, he’s done it around a dozen times. Metz has been creating the bee beard with the help of the “West Virginia Newbees,” a group of beekeepers who create social media content about bees.  

“The state bee inspector asked me if I could do it. I said, ‘Yeah... got to remember how. It's been 30 years,” Metz said. “We went ahead and set up a tent, and I got the bees and put them on me at my house, you know, and it went good.” 

Metz and the “West Virginia Newbees” came to Westminster College’s Field Station on Thursday, Sept. 18, where they put on their impressive display. Students from various classes, as well as members of the community, attended the performance of “Charlie and the Amazing Bearding Ladies.” Metz was accompanied by his wife, Pat Metz, who helped with the setup and even kissed Charlie while he had the bee beard on his face.  

But, does he get stung?  

“Last time we did it, got stung on the lip. That was free Botox. My lip swelled up big. Yeah, usually it's a mistake that we make. You know, the guy's putting them on me or me bending my head or something like that,” Metz said. 

Westminster student Elena Macdonald, a Senior and Music (BA) major, was brave enough to try the bee beard. After she begged Dr. Krantz, he finally agreed, and she sat in the chair while the ‘West Virginia Newbees’ scooped the bees onto her face.

“I would totally do it again. It was a shockingly calming experience, and I was in an almost meditative state of mind. Also, I felt really cool doing it,” Macdonald said, “It will definitely be my icebreaker from now on! It is a unique experience, to say the least, but I think more people should put bees on their faces. Unless they’re allergic, I guess.”

Macdonald is a student in the ‘Buzzfeed’ cluster course, which combines Environmental Science and Social Media content creation.

Check out the “West Virginia Newbees” or @newbeeswv on TikTok and Instagram to see their engaging bee-related content.  

It may just be the most West Virginia thing you’ll ever see in your life.