What's the coolest veil/suit combination?

Doc Pat · November 17, 2008, 10:58:42 AM

Being of the female persuasion and of that certain age, I don't do well at all when it's really hot. Can someone recommend a relatively cool veil/jacket combination (and I do understand that "relative" is the operative term here)? I'll be starting from scratch next spring, and am a little chicken to jump right in without a jacket (but will, with luck, get brave and work up to that before too long!).

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

Pat

mathispollenators · November 17, 2008, 05:31:51 PM

Ultra-Breeze hooded jackets they also have the jumpsuits. http://www.honeymoonapiaries.com/ Here is a link my dad has one of the jackets it looks nice. They are a little pricey thought I don't know what he paid for it. I like just a tuell veil, cowboy hat, long sleeve shirt, gloves if needed. That's the coolest thing I found to work in. But you gotta have a suit ever now and then. I keep one behind the seats of our trucks.

Doc Pat · November 17, 2008, 05:41:12 PM

Thanks! I'll check it out. It will be well worth a few extra dollars to me to keep a bit cooler.

Michael Bush · November 17, 2008, 08:17:37 PM

That or the Golden Bee Prodcuts (similar) on a hot summer day they are worth every penny.

magnet-man · December 23, 2008, 10:03:38 AM

Golden Bee Products doesn't have a jacket though.

Michael Bush · December 23, 2008, 09:23:36 PM

No, Golden Bee Products does not have a jacket and I use a jacket more than I use a suit. I can't wait to get my "Ultra Breeze" jacket...

JP · December 23, 2008, 09:38:15 PM

Quote from: Michael Bush on December 23, 2008, 09:23:36 PM
No, Golden Bee Products does not have a jacket and I use a jacket more than I use a suit. I can't wait to get my "Ultra Breeze" jacket...

Me too, as soon as I place my order.

...JP

Michael Bush · January 01, 2009, 02:19:58 PM

WOW! I got the Ultra breeze jacket last night. Awesome! The same quality of materials as the Golden Bee Products and less canvas to interfere with the ventilation AND it's a jacket which is so much easier to put on and off for most situations. The veil is easier to see out of. The pockets are even ventilated to let more air through. I also got a full suit. I can't say how it will age in the long run, but it's well made and better ventilated with the lack of canvas that blocks the ventilation on the Golden Bee Products suit.

Very nice.

mathispollenators · January 02, 2009, 07:54:58 AM

Pretty cool glad you guys liked the Ultra-Breeze. I don't own one but I recommended something others liked. Cool I like that now gotta rip off dad's to try it myself see if I like them. Or at least know something other than what it looks like. LOL

Cindi · January 02, 2009, 02:07:51 PM

Quote from: Michael Bush on January 01, 2009, 02:19:58 PM
WOW! I got the Ultra breeze jacket last night. Awesome! The same quality of materials as the Golden Bee Products and less canvas to interfere with the ventilation AND it's a jacket which is so much easier to put on and off for most situations. The veil is easier to see out of.

I think I am missing something here. I looked at the site for the ultra breeze jacket and it looked to me like it is mostly mesh. Am I seeing this right?

I am of a pretty distinct impression that the reason to wear extra fabric around the bees, such as a jacket or full suit is to protect from the bee stings, or to keep the beekeeper warm if it is in cooler weather.

Isn't the beekeeper still vulnerable for lots of bee stings with the jacket being made so much out of mesh? Maybe it is just my computer screen that isn't showing a clear picture of this ultra breeze jacket. Please more clearly define and elaborate what this jacket looks like. I like what I was hearing about the visibility through the veil. I find my veil on my suit and my safari hat veil not that clear and is annoying at times when I am searching through a hive for eggs, and so on. Have a wonderful and awesome life, day, and great health. Cindi

JP · January 02, 2009, 02:30:16 PM

Quote from: Cindi on January 02, 2009, 02:07:51 PM
Quote from: Michael Bush on January 01, 2009, 02:19:58 PM
WOW! I got the Ultra breeze jacket last night. Awesome! The same quality of materials as the Golden Bee Products and less canvas to interfere with the ventilation AND it's a jacket which is so much easier to put on and off for most situations. The veil is easier to see out of.

I think I am missing something here. I looked at the site for the ultra breeze jacket and it looked to me like it is mostly mesh. Am I seeing this right?

I am of a pretty distinct impression that the reason to wear extra fabric around the bees, such as a jacket or full suit is to protect from the bee stings, or to keep the beekeeper warm if it is in cooler weather.

Isn't the beekeeper still vulnerable for lots of bee stings with the jacket being made so much out of mesh? Maybe it is just my computer screen that isn't showing a clear picture of this ultra breeze jacket. Please more clearly define and elaborate what this jacket looks like. I like what I was hearing about the visibility through the veil. I find my veil on my suit and my safari hat veil not that clear and is annoying at times when I am searching through a hive for eggs, and so on. Have a wonderful and awesome life, day, and great health. Cindi

Cindi, the suit and jacket is layered with mesh but bees cannot sting through it. Trust me, I have one of each type suit and am about to order the ultra breeze jacket.

Think of it like those bug tamer mosquito suits.

...JP

Cindi · January 02, 2009, 05:46:56 PM

JP, thank you for the clarification. I needed to know and you have satisfied that. I rarely wear my bee suit and veil, but always wear my safari hat and veil. I am going to look into this to see if I may get a jacket for that day when my bees become nasty enough that I require protective clothing. So far I haven't required any body protection, they just are not stingy type bees, but ya never know what may come up when we move to the interior of our province, hee, hee. Beautiful day in this great life, love life, great health. Cindi

Michael Bush · January 02, 2009, 06:50:08 PM

>I think I am missing something here. I looked at the site for the ultra breeze jacket and it looked to me like it is mostly mesh. Am I seeing this right?

Yes.

>I am of a pretty distinct impression that the reason to wear extra fabric around the bees, such as a jacket or full suit is to protect from the bee stings

Yes.

> or to keep the beekeeper warm if it is in cooler weather.

Or cool if the weather is warmer. ;)

>Isn't the beekeeper still vulnerable for lots of bee stings with the jacket being made so much out of mesh?

Not at all. As already explained above...

magnet-man · January 02, 2009, 08:47:04 PM

Cindy the protection comes from two of the three layers. The three layers work out to be 1/8 if an inch thick. The outer most layer is a very small hole fishnet. This layer keeps the bee from putting her stinger through the larger middle layer. The middle layer is a pvc coated quarter quarter inch mesh with a thickness of 1/8 inch. These two layers puts a distance between bee and the beekeeper. What is the layer against the skin do? This layer is only to provide a slick surface between the rubbery middle layer and the beekeepers skin.

How strong is the netting? Well they make fishing and shrimp nets with it.

Michael I am glad to hear you like your Ultra-Breeze.

Cindi · January 03, 2009, 01:36:41 PM

Magnet-Man, ah, you are the owner of Honeymoon Apiaries, nice that you responded to even more clearly define what the fabric does. Thank you very much.

I have been keeping bees since April of 2005, that is coming up to almost 4 years now, wow, time flies. I can count the times that I have been stung by the bees during this tenure. And they are not very many. The only time that I have been stung was when I caused harm to a bee, she stung me itself, and when I dropped a swarm of bees on my face because I could not hold up the branch my Husband cut. I get a sting now and then on my bare hands, but so rarely. I think that I smell nice or something, or smell really bad and my smell masks the alarm pheromones, smiling that secret smile, ;) :) :).

I would love to own a jacket such as this one being spoken about, but just cannot at this point in time justify the cost, when I don't even use my own bee suit. I will keep this information stored in the back of my mind. Because as I am saying, my bees may one day turn cranky when I move to a different locale, seems they are pretty calm bees living here. Weird stuff. Have a most wonderful, awesome and great life, great health. Cindi

Natalie · January 03, 2009, 02:28:16 PM

Oh my gosh Cindi, dropped a swarm of bees on your face! Yikes.
That could not have felt good.

Cindi · January 03, 2009, 02:34:07 PM

Natalie, this is funny. When bees ready to evert their stinger, they grab on tight with their back legs basically for leverage. Let me tell ya, the face is a very sensitive spot and I clearly recall all those little feelings of something sticky grabbing onto my face!!! I was pretty swollen up. There is a thread about pictures of the human beings' reactions to bee stings on our forum, check it out, some of us look pretty ding dang funny. Have a wonderful and awesome day, love and live life, health. Cindi

magnet-man · January 03, 2009, 04:03:06 PM

Cindi, I know what you mean about working with gentle bees. I keep NWC from Sue Cobey and they are very gentle. I harvested two years in a row in short pants and a t-shirt and got stung once each time. The first year when I was finished and was putting some capping on a hive to be cleaned up. The second year was by a dead bee when I was uncapping a frame. My NWC line got onto it's third generation of open mating last year and became more defensive. Last year was the first year I kept a suit for my own use.

I requeened last year with queens from Honeyrun Apiaries since Tim does II and has breeders from Sue. My wife and I do plan on using the suits in the middle of the summer still. I just wear cotton boxer shorts and she wears a boxer and a bra under the suit. It is a whole lot cooler than short pants and you feel comfortable with not smoking the bees. Oklahoma gets really hot during the summer. :-P

http://www.honeyrunapiaries.com/queens.phtml

Cindi · January 03, 2009, 05:34:55 PM

Magnet-man, BTW, it is Cindi (with an "i"), I always point that out, sorry, just an anal part of me.....smiling.

We are making an enormous move some time in the future, when our house sells, no clue when that will be. We live in an extremely wet and cool area, I need a place with more heat and sunshine, thus the move.

Where I will be moving to is going to be hot, stinking hot, I know that, and I am so looking forward to hot weather, I am a sun goddess, I love heat and the sun. I may definitely require cooler clothing than my typical summer gear of tank tops and blue jeans that I work my bees with. Your product will definitely be on my mind this late spring, or whenever I get up to the hot upcountry. Personally, I wouldn't wear anything beneath the garments that protect from the bees, unless they are too see through, then of course, some form of clothing to cover the body. I keep New World Carniolans and some Italian. I have nine colonies. Have a wonderful and awesome day, great life, Cindi