Best bee suit under £50

[birdsandbees]

My experiences are that it's the veil material that makes the biggest difference, having gone through a few cheaper suits including three from STBK and one from Maisemore the plastic mesh does eventually split, usually only discovered when dealing with an abnormally aggressive colony as they will always find a split before you do!
I now have a Sheriff suit but also have a cheap jacket which is fine for most jobs, I say cheap, well it was £60.00 but it's vented AND has woven mesh not plastic mesh so I have confidence it'll last a few years yet.

I bought it at Tradex from F-Mart based in the Midlands, might be worth a look.

 

[Murox]

My experiences are that it's the veil material that makes the biggest difference, having gone through a few cheaper suits including three from STBK and one from Maisemore the plastic mesh does eventually split, usually only discovered when dealing with an abnormally aggressive colony as they will always find a split before you do!
I now have a Sheriff suit but also have a cheap jacket which is fine for most jobs, I say cheap, well it was £60.00 but it's vented AND has woven mesh not plastic mesh so I have confidence it'll last a few years yet.

I bought it at Tradex from F-Mart based in the Midlands, might be worth a look.

The veil material - yes - I have tried to ask various manufacturers about theirs but just get the "come and try/buy and try" brush off. A listing of good woven mesh veils would be hugely helpful. Where I live popping along to a supplier is not an option (3 to 4 hour drive one way minimum) so I rely upon honest descriptions in catalogues (they must surely exist) or recommendations such as this one from Birdandbees . So Thankyou very very much.

 

[Fritillary]

Yes, it's a great shame that manufacturers ruin otherwise perfectly good quality suits with plastic mesh which rips so easily. I have a suit (which cost me about £35 I think) with woven mesh veil which has lost its coloured coating, which is a nuisance, but at least it's still intact, 4 years later.

 

[madasafish]

Yes, it's a great shame that manufacturers ruin otherwise perfectly good quality suits with plastic mesh which rips so easily. I have a suit (which cost me about £35 I think) with woven mesh veil which has lost its coloured coating, which is a nuisance, but at least it's still intact, 4 years later.

My £35 camo jacket -ebay 2010- has been reveiled - cost £35 - and is still operational..New elastic (twice) and some diy sewing (not a pretty sight).

It is still bee proof...and looks new from a distance..

 

[thorn]

My £35 camo jacket -ebay 2010- has been reveiled - cost £35 - and is still operational..New elastic (twice) and some diy sewing (not a pretty sight).

It is still bee proof...and looks new from a distance..

Does the camo help you lose followers?

 

[Newbeeneil]

Bought a 3 layer jacket at NHS this week from Urbanshawk and compared it with the Thornes alternative. The Thornes one looked similar if slightly inferior (flimsy zip handles) and was more than twice the price! (I get a feeling I got a bit of a deal as they normally supply wholesale I think.)
The new jacket with do a treat at that price!

 

[echidna]

I bought one (new) from ebay for about £30 because I thought I would be only using it rarely and not handling bees myself. I actually turned out to be doing more than I expected but the suit has been fine so far. I'm sure its limitations will become apparent with greater use but if you really just want something cheap and don't mind it not fitting very well, have a look on ebay.

 

[madasafish]

Does the camo help you lose followers?

No!

 

[Jimmy]

Yes, it's a great shame that manufacturers ruin otherwise perfectly good quality suits with plastic mesh which rips so easily. I have a suit (which cost me about £35 I think) with woven mesh veil which has lost its coloured coating, which is a nuisance, but at least it's still intact, 4 years later.

If anyone could highlight where to buy beeproof woven mesh to replace a plastic mesh veil I'd be very grateful. My ebay/Google efforts have yielded too heavy a mesh so far.

(I use and am happy with a Lyson suit that is 6-7 years old that originally had a woven mesh veil. Cost £50 and now sells at £70)

 

[Erichalfbee]

Well my BB Wear and Stans Sherrif are 12 years old. Washed every two weeks and still going strong

 

[joelsoo]

Bought a 3 layer jacket at NHS this week from Urbanshawk and compared it with the Thornes alternative. The Thornes one looked similar if slightly inferior (flimsy zip handles) and was more than twice the price! (I get a feeling I got a bit of a deal as they normally supply wholesale I think.)
The new jacket with do a treat at that price!

i bought the Urbanshawk 3 layered mesh suit too for £40 at the recent National Honey Show, i hope my days sweating in the summer heat when inspecting is a thing of the past?

i think for the quality its a steal, i checked other stalls at the show and they are like £90/£120.

only downside they don't have khaki color only white (too easy to get dirty) and modern camo green/brown patterned suit. i bought the camo patterned one, & my son said it looked like the minecraft Game's camo pattern. haha

http://urbanshawk.com/detail.php?live=30_117_0_1123

 

[Adam6578]

Can anyone recommend a bee suit for £50 and under? It's only for my partner who will only very occasionally help out with or near the bees but wants something for protection.

I use Goldbee suits. The standard ones are under £50. They have extra big veil which has an insertable plastic strip. It keeps the hood extended so it doesn’t collapse on your face. I use to always get paranoid a bee would sting my nose. Worth a look www.Goldbeestore.co.uk

 

[Patrick1]

Can anyone recommend a bee suit for £50 and under? It's only for my partner who will only very occasionally help out with or near the bees but wants something for protection.

A jacket is normaly good protection for an occasional visit, I wouldn’t be surprised if in the Bank holiday Christmas sale the prices didn’t get close to your target price

 

[IndiBee]

Mesh on the Sentinel Pro II is super strong and see-trhough. Best gear I have ever had.

 

[Curly green finger's]

I think the best suite I have is from bb wear with a fencing vail.
I have two sbk suites but the vail material is thin and starting to fray a bit.
Sbk suite £50
Bb wear £165
I would again buy the bb wear as I can see its going to last for a longer time hopefully a few years rather than just a season or two.

 

[Wilco]

Can anyone recommend a bee suit for £50 and under? It's only for my partner who will only very occasionally help out with or near the bees but wants something for protection.

Not checked price lately but I use the STB professional suit which comes with a spare veil. Think it was about £50. Works well for me, not had a sting for a while. Get a size or two up though.

 

[drdrday]

I have a basic STBK suit (£30). Never been stung through it, and after three years nothing wrong with the suit itself, and it washes great. I did replace the hat and veil this year because the mesh developed a small split. However, at just £8 for a new hat and veil, I'll happily stick with my cheap suit and replacement hats for as many years as I can.
Would be great to be able to find a source for good quality woven mesh so that I could replace this myself, but so far no luck.
I understand why people might want a ventilated suit if they have lots of hives, but for less than a handful myself it's not really an issue for me.

 

[understanding_bees]

Can anyone recommend a bee suit for £50 and under? It's only for my partner who will only very occasionally help out with or near the bees but wants something for protection.

May I suggest that you consider a bee jacket, rather than a full suit. In my experience I have found that a jacket is SO much easier to put on, than "climbing into" a full suit. I bought a good quality jacket here in Melbourne for about $70 Australian (about 36 Pounds sterling?), and have found that it gives good protection. It feels unnecessary to me to have a full bee suit because I can wear other suitable normal clothing to protect the lower part of my body.

 

[user 819]

The best suit ever I bought for under £50, was the Castle Farms Sentinel (Michelin man jacket with hat/veil). Though was on special offer.
Other wise I have bought BeeBasic smocks with hats/veils, when hat/veils need replacing I just now buy new hats/veils with under arm elastic.
Large cheap jogging bottoms for over trousers or the white ones form STBK.

Only ever bought one, one piece suit and never again. Horrible things and prefer the flexibility of a two piece or just a smock/hat.

 

[PeaBee]

Have a STB buzz work wear pro at 49.99 and its perfectly workable nd protective suit and a reasonable veil (came with 2) also have a sheriff and BB wear which are obviously better quality but for the price the stb is excellent