Indeed, your beard would not be a pretty sight. 

This got me curious about the origin and possible function of bifurcated thoracic setae (hairs) on bees.  I went to my collection of A. dorsata and pulled out some samples to see if tropical open-nesters have the same plumous morphology as temperate bees, and they do. What I did is not science, and there are plenty of examples of duel functionality, flight musculature being a prime example. Still, I'm leaning toward efficient pollen collection being the reason for the shared morphology.  Other setae on various parts of a bee's exoskeleton are contoured for pollen collection and packing, as are the specialized setae on leg structures.  

Maybe the hypothesis that bees gathered in a cluster are a feathered insulated ball of some kind, is not quite proven yet. 

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