Well, as a 5'2" woman, I am swallowed up by my bee suit. For example, the pockets which are numerous and look very effective are essentially beyond easy reach. I ordered it and wear it - it came from Dadant and since you order by chest measurement, it puts a woman at a certain disadvantage.....
I've looked at other places. Brushy Mountain offers pants for the short woman, but not suits. Pants and a jacket allow a space for an interested bee to visit, should they choose.
Now, I'm generally quite calm around my bees. I often sit with no protection on the ground between my two hives watching them come and go and haven't been stung in my whole two weeks as a beekeeper. I did have a bee get caught in my hair and after sitting still, hoping she would leave while she instead tried to find my scalp, finally used the bee brush to brush her gently out of my hair.
However, even though I see pictures of bare-armed folks with only veils to protect them from stings, I am not willing to be unprotected when I work on the hives.
Any suggestions for the female beekeeper?
Linda T in Atlanta :oops:
http://www.beeequipment.com/products.asp?pcode=984SM
Maybe one of our beekeepin' sisters will have something to add,
but this looks pretty good :wink:
Quote from: manowar422http://www.beeequipment.com/products.asp?pcode=984SM
Maybe one of our beekeepin' sisters will have something to add,
but this looks pretty good :wink:
with those pants and the jacket below makes a nice suit, I bought my wife one of these and I wear it doing removals, nice....
http://www.betterbee.com/products.asp?dept=602
grow
Hey Linda T,
unless you are doing removals, I would think all you really need is a veil, jacket and those bee britches, when you need the added protection, but most of the time you can simply work your bees with just a veil, sometimes you don't even need that.
With the pants and jacket do the bees find wiggle room to come and visit?
I live by myself, but would be fine keeping my tall guy's beesuit for occasional visitors who are interested in my bees and ordering pants and a jacket - I've just been concerned that bees could come in.
I do wish someone would make bee suits designed for women.
Linda T :wink:
arent a lot of these suits made of cotton? could you get them to shrink in the washer/dryer?
Linda T,
I don't believe you will have a problem with the bees trying to get in between the jacket and pants unless you are working very mean bees or doing a removal where they are agitated. If you find you need to seal this area you can use duct tape, which I don't think you'll wind up doing very often.
Thanks for the reassurance, JP. I'll go for it.
I have two 6' son-in-laws who may like to wear my original suit occasionally - I'll go ahead and order the jacket and britches -
I'll put a before and after photo up after they arrive and you can all get a good laugh!
Linda T in Atlanta
Linda T,
you're welcome and have fun working those bees!
Where in Louisiana are you, JT? I grew up in Natchez, MS where my brother now that I have started has an interest in keeping bees.
Linda T
Linda T,
I'm in Metairie right outside of New Orleans.
the jacket has a good stretch band at the bottom, when I do removals I just wear the jacket and blue jeans....
I'd love to hear from some women on this topic....
Linda T
Quote from: randydrivesabusgrow
hahaahha..."beekeeping in Heels"
www.beeworks.com They will make a suit to about any size you want. They are very good suits.
I'm amazed, Michael - is there anything about beekeeping that you don't know?
I'm also greatly appreciative that you take the time to post here and on the other sites you frequent.
Thanks,
Linda T in Atlanta
Where it's COLD for Atlanta tonight - 40 something
Another female-type person here. I got my suit with my "starter kit" and ordered a medium. It's HUGE. Now I'm not anywhere near petite since I'm 5'9 and about 155 pounds, but I still float in it. What's the deal with these things? It's 50/50 so I washed it in high-hot-and-a-hell-of-a-lot but it's still way too big. They are made for a man's frame that's for sure.
My hubby just got his the other day from Dadant and even he floats in that one. Maybe they make them overly big thinking you want to wear a ton of clothing under them. At first I wore my sweatshirt for extra protection. I was pretty nervous never having been that close to bees before. It's getting too warm for that now anyway!
one thing about beekeeping cloths and gloves, if you wear a medium in normal cloths get a small in beekeeping cloths, everything alway to big, they must have started out with alot of returns with suits not being big enough, guest they fixed that problem ;)
Glad to see Denise charm in one this one :)
I'll just add that MY biggest fear isn't keeping the bees out - it is KEEPING THE BEES IN! I've never felt comfortable with a veil - I know there has to be a better way then the typical draw string setups (I've seen lots of versions in all the catelogs and websites) but nothing that seems both bee proof, able to work in and also not obscure visibility.
I don't mind protection - I think anything that increases a persons confort level reduces the stress and karma around the beeyard. I wear tight fitting sunglasses, I've even worn swimming glasses (although they can fog up at the worst of times - lol) but I'd take a sting on the nose or anywhere on the face MINUS the eyes and lips from a worker in flight than a worker trapped in my hood always lurking with the chance of stinging.
Sometime the threat of a sting is worse, much worse than the sting itself. I've mentioned before that I won't wear boxer shorts any more - I'll leave that one to your imagination. I still wear short pants, but I'm a brief lkinda guy since 1998 - ugh.
I use a jacket. I've never had the bees get in the drawstring bottom or the gathers at the sleeves. I am 5'5" and I bought a small. I think it's a good size.
>I'm amazed, Michael - is there anything about beekeeping that you don't know?
There is SO much I want to know yet. Yes, there is MUCH about beekeeping I don't know. :)
As far as swimming your your suit, I don't think you quite understand the alternatives. Too big is nice. To small is bad. Anywhere the suit is tight on you is a potential for a sting. If you do like me and wear regular gloves tucked into the elastic sleeves and then you reach too far with a tight suit the sleeves pull up and your wrists are exposed. If it's a jacket and it's not too big then every time you reach or bend your lower back gets exposed. With bee suits, bigger is better.
Go to Lowe's/Home Depot and buy a cheap paint suit for $10 that fits your midsection and then just cut off the arms and legs to fit. Wala, a custom suit that fits and is cheap. At the end of the season just throw it out and buy a new one in Spring. Actually, if you just have a couple of hives, it will last for years
Quote from: RoboGo to Lowe's/Home Depot and buy a cheap paint suit for $10 that fits your midsection and then just cut off the arms and legs to fit. Wala, a custom suit that fits and is cheap. At the end of the season just throw it out and buy a new one in Spring. Actually, if you just have a couple of hives, it will last for years
there it is, good idea Robo........
That was Robo's suggestion to me a couple weeks ago and it works brilliantly. I have two. One each for my wife and son along with two veils and they work great. My wife is a bit antsy around the bees and likes the suit. My 5 year old came out on Saturday with only a veil and shorts and a tee shirt. He just laughed at me when I got stung twice and he not at all. He says the bees, "like me."
My husband uses his German flight suit. It's comfortable and keeps him bee-tight when he adds the veil and gloves. It works great.
I'm still not brave enough yet to go without gloves. Even though our bees seem to be really sweet and docile. They don't get agitated when we open the hives. I'll get there....:)
Another thing no one seems to mention, the bees cling to cotton a lot. You'll have a lot of bees on you. They don't cling to nylon much, and you won't have nearly as many bees on you.
I have a men's small from dadants. Heightwise it fits me ok, I am 5'10, but I think having it all loose and too big makes it more airy and cool, especially in Florida. Plus you have more mobility than with a suit that is more fitted. The cuffs are much too wide though; I always have to tie something around the cuffs on my ankles, wrists, etc.
I regret buying a full suit, at first when I started w/ bees I thought it was a necessity. It is cotton and the bees tend to hang on to it more and try to crawl up the pantlegs if I don't tie them up. I wish I had just gotten a tiedown veil and gloves; you really don't need a suit; jeans and a sweatshirt will suffice. I wore the suit twice( in 95 degree weather) and that was the end of that. But I'm keeping it just in case, you never know.
Quote from: SummerbeeBut I'm keeping it just in case, you never know.
Think Africanized :shock:
I have no advice to solve this problem. - But those bee bridges look like they would doo the trick - For my daughter, i went to Home Depot and bought at $10 painting suit and use an extra veil.
But the thing with beesuits is that the are large for many reasons:
1. So that you can move around with them , lifting supers, twisting around, etc. The thing has to give and alow you to be flexible.
2. Most beekeerpers are : Fat men or Fat old men So when the guy who typically squeezes into a XXL shirt has plenty of room to move around in a XXL beesuit. I don't know why most beekeepers are bigguys, but when I go to the local beekeepers meeting that is what is there, It must be all the honey they eat and all the honey pilsers and mead they drink.
When I bought my suit I weighed 75 lbs more than I do now, But I like it to fit loosely for the twisting and lifting that I need to do.
Quote from: JerrymacQuote from: SummerbeeBut I'm keeping it just in case, you never know.
Think Africanized :shock:
EXACTLY!
I wear a white flannel jacket that has the fake sheep wool type stuff on the inside. It keeps a cousion between the bees and my skin. Under that I have a tanktop on. I wear rubber boots, carharts pants and tie the veil string around my waste to keep them from traveling up my shirt. I am glad to say that after three years I have never been stung. I'm sure that I'll get stung one of these days but Im still to cheap to buy a suit.
i though the title of this post was sex IN the bee suit. :wink:
I'm not gonna lie, I was somewhat dissapointed by the subject matter of this post...
Anyway, my suit from Mann Lake just came in the mail today, I am 6'1 and 140ish pounds, and I wouldn't mind if was a tiny bigger actually. I ordered what I thought would be a large because it goes by chest measurement... It is rip stop nylon. It seems like it should work admirably.
I dont have a bee suit, i have a jacket with veil and gloves, im still new so i try to protect myself. I bought a pair of white pants at the thrift store for a dollar. Only got stung once and thats when i first set up my bees last summer, I have good behaving bees. And i dont mess with them longer than they will let me.
Quote from: leominsterbeeman
2. Most beekeerpers are : Fat men or Fat old men So when the guy who typically squeezes into a XXL shirt has plenty of room to move around in a XXL beesuit. I don't know why most beekeepers are bigguys, but when I go to the local beekeepers meeting that is what is there, It must be all the honey they eat and all the honey pilsers and mead they drink.
HAHAHAHAHAHA! No wonder I'm floating in my suit. I buy men's clothing pretty often because I have trouble with most women's clothing for the opposite reason. They seem to think all women are 5'2" and under. It can be a hassle being taller than the average. Sleeves are always too short as well. I have monkey-arms and legs. I've got my ankles and wrists hanging out all the time. Sheesh. :roll:
Tillie,
My wife and I both use Tyvek coveralls that you can get from industrial supply vendors (Grainger, for instance). The suits have boots and hoods, zip up, are lightweight, and go over all your clothes.
We got six extra large suits for about forty bucks. The suits last for several hive visits.
The Tyvek, a veil, some gloves, that's about it.
Went to Lowe's today and bought a painter's coverall - one size fits all - hmmmmm - may not be any different than the bee suit in the swallowing up factor.
There were two coveralls - one $6.47, the other $10.47 - There was no difference in the descriptions on the outside of the package - both were distributed from Durham, NC and both were made in China.
The Lowe's guy and I decided I would be paying more for a green package with the same thing in it, so I bought the blue one for $6.47.....the suits in both were white.
I'm going to a beekeeping workshop for the weekend, so maybe I'll wear my Dadant suit just to fit in, we'll see!
Linda T in Atlanta but about to be in Brasstown, NC for a workshop
Quote from: tillieWent to Lowe's today and bought a painter's coverall - one size fits all - hmmmmm - may not be any different than the bee suit in the swallowing up factor.
Ahhh, but the painter suit is easily custom fitted with good ole duct tape. And you won't feel bad about cutting the legs or sleeves :wink:
Well, I completely sympathize with all of the diminuitive women out there! I am 5' 1 (and 3/4"!) and about 105 lbs. I have the same problem with my bee suits. I have a tyvek suit, that I used to use for painting. I had to buy IT from a safety supply company, so that it would fit me.. It has a tiny gap at the back of the neck that the bees found for me, so I bought a Dadant suit - x-small- and it is enormous - but no gap, so I switch between the two. You will find out that Tyvek, although lightweight, doesn't breathe, so it's not ideal.
I completely agree with Leominster about why the sizes are so big.. I had the same problem when I tried to buy a pair of denim overalls several years ago, while visiting the in-laws in Iowa. I guess that many farmers and beekeepers have similiar bodytypes..
Mellifera