As a new beekeeper, protective wear is likely going to be amongst the first few pieces of equipment you will purchase.
Experienced beekeepers know the importance of remaining calm and collected when handling bees and therefore often make do with a simple hat and veil or some jeans.
However, new keepers need time to gain this confidence and may not be comfortable with handling bees without these protective layers providing a layer between their skin and the angry stinger of a honeybee.
Moreso, new keepers may not be as equipped as more experienced keepers in being able to distinguish the temperament that bees are displaying in any given moment. Therefore, bee suits are highly recommended for new beekeepers.
Bee suits are essential, full body armour for beekeepers which ensures a beekeeper’s safety from head to toe. Below, we will discuss the different types of bee suits that are available as well as the features that you should look out for in your bee suit. We will also talk about how much a bee suit can cost and what the best type of bee suit is.
What do You Want in Bee Suit?
We could begin by explaining the different types of bee suits, but we believe that it is important to first have a good idea of what you want to get from your bee suit in order to enable you to choose the best one.
As discussed previously, bee suits protect the beekeeper from head to toe from painful and potentially dangerous beestings. But apart from protection, you should probably also look out for:
- Comfort: elasticated waists but also comfortable, light fabric (i.e., cotton) is a must to improve wearability!
- Comfort is especially important, but so is breathability. These suits can get heavy and on hot days, breathability can make or break a successful workday as a beekeeper.
- Good ventilation is a must!
- Quality, especially in the fabric to ensure it is sturdy enough to repel stings, but also in zippers and fastenings.
- A warranty/good reviews: bee suits can be extremely expensive, so make sure that the suit either comes on warranty or has an excellent track record and reviews from other customers.
- Machine washable: hygiene is important to ensure both your health and the health of your bees. Some suits are not washable, so make sure you get one that is! (You’ll appreciate this feature especially after extremely hot workdays!)
- Smooth fabric and Velcro/elastic cuffs around ankles and wrists. This will protect your bees from getting snagged on loose fabric if they happen to land on your suit while you are working on your hives. Additionally, the elastic/Velcro cuffs keep crawling bees from getting inside the suit.
- POCKETS! We all know and love the utility the pockets provide, and with bee suits, nothing changes.
The Different Types of Bees Suits:
There are two main kinds of suits: the all-in-one and the separates. All bee suits, however, do have the same function.
The functions of your bee suit include to both protect you from beestings of course, but also these protect bees from potential infections from contamination!
While you can still get stung while wearing a bee suit, good quality suits lessen this occurrence and prevent stingers from getting lodged in the skin, which helps reduce the pain of a sting (because the longer a stinger remains in the skin, the more toxins are released which activate pain receptors).
Let us discuss what you can expect from both kinds of bee suits.
The “All-in-one” Bee Suit:
As the name implies, the “all-in-one” bee suit, in one solid piece of clothing, provides full body protection. This suit looks very much like a jumpsuit. Paired with a hood or veil, this type of suit provides full body coverage with less gaps for bees to get trapped while preventing stings in these areas too.
Of course, a pair of boots will have to be added as extras, but apart from this, this suit has got you entirely covered (literally!).
The “Separates” Bee Suit:
Instead of one solid jumpsuit style garment like with the all-in-one kind of suit, the separate suit is literally…separate. This kind of bee suit needs to be assembled and can consist of trousers worn with beekeeping jackets, gloves and hoods or veiled hats.
A sturdy pair of boots finishes the ensemble and keeps the keeper safe. This type of suit enables the keeper to better mix and match items as they need/prefer them.
Interesting Fact!
Did you know that bee keeping suits are usually white because it is easier to see bees against a white backdrop than to see them against, for example, a brown or patterned suit?
How Much do Bee Suits cost?
Bee suits can get extremely pricey! The average price range of a good quality bee suit being from $50-$250! While you can find cheaper suits, these are usually cheaply made and will not last very long.
You can consider getting a cheaper suit if you’re not sure if beekeeping is “your thing” yet, but this will probably need to be replaced much sooner than a more expensive suit.
The Best Bee Suits for Beginners?
There is no definitive answer as to what “the BEST” bee keeping suit is and will likely just depend on personal preference. Any good quality suit will do the trick. You can see some good quality suits listed below that other beekeepers have given 5-star reviews.
Check these out by clicking on the hyperlinks below!
Ultra-Breeze Ventilated Jacket and Veil
Natural Apiary- Full Suit with Veil
Ultra-Breeze Full Beekeeping Suit with Veil
To end off…
Beekeeping Suits are an important part of any beekeepers’ inventory, but especially for new beekeepers. Bee suits can either come in an “all-in-one” jumpsuit style but also in separate pieces which can be mixed and matched.
A good quality suit can cost a beekeeper a pretty penny ($50-$250)! But we highly recommend investing in a more expensive, better-quality suit to ensure that your bee suit lasts as many uses as possible!
