The Best Bee Suit to Start Your Beekeeping Hobby

Please note that when we say "bee suit," we're referring to a full, entire bee suit. A bee suit incorporates a veil and pants into the suit. You can also buy suits that don't have a veil. In those cases, the veil must be purchased separately. It's also possible to buy light jackets. Sometimes these come with a veil, but they only cover half your body. For a beginner to beekeeping, it's essential to make sure that your entire body is covered, with any potential entrances to your clothes sealed. A full bee suit is the easiest way to accomplish that if you're not used to being around bees.

A full bee suit consists of a jumpsuit-like piece of clothing with a veiled covering for your head and face. The ankles and wrists use elastic or ties to stay tight against your skin, and most bee suits do not have socks or gloves built-in.

Usually, you'll tuck the bottom of your pants into socks, and then into boots. You can buy boots specially designed for beekeeping, but they're not usually necessary. Whether or not you use gloves during colony inspections is up to you. Some beekeepers claim that the extra level of sensation and dexterity afforded with bare hands makes the potential risk of stings worth it. If you do wear gloves, wearing something light and breathable is best. Even thin gloves will offer basic protection against stings.

Along with your other equipment used during colony inspections, you should bring along a smoker to pacify the bees. If you're allergic, make sure to bring an EpiPen along as well. It's also important that you behave in a calm, deliberate manner that helps communicate to the bees that you are not a threat.

Especially if you live somewhere with hot summers, you're going to want the lightest, most well-ventilated material you can get (while still offering significant protection from bees, that is). Make sure that you can get as close a fit as possible and that the suit is tight enough on your wrists and ankles. A bee suit should be light in color, too; preferably white, although khaki also works. Bees do not like dark colors. After that, you should consider things like pockets and the type of fasteners you prefer should.

You should also consider what kind of veil you want. Some bee suit hoods have a rigid structure with a veil that completely encircles your head, while others are what is called a "fencing veil." Fencing veils feature enclosed hoods with a veil in the front. Some beekeepers prefer not to use fencing veils because the more relaxed structure can, under the right circumstances, allow a bee to sting right through the mesh. However, as long as the mesh is not against your skin, bees will not be able to sting you. The most important thing is that entrances to your suit are easily secured and that the mesh of your veil does not rest against your skin.

In some areas, farming supply and home improvement stores may have bee suits. However, the best place to find a high-quality bee suit these days is probably the internet. It's easy to find dozens of hobbyist sites, as well as professional vendors. Then, there are always aggregate stores like Amazon with dozens of sellers of hundreds of suits.

It's possible to get a bee suit fairly cheap, but even the most expensive bee suits are not horrifically expensive. The most you can expect to spend on a bee suit is a couple of hundred dollars, and paying even that much is pretty unlikely.