Veil on Face

[Brian Bush]

I have a suit with a fencing type hood. I wear a baseball cap in an attempt to stop the veil touching my face. The cap keeps it from my eyes but the lower piece flops back against my face and I get stung on the chin or nose.
Has any one worked out a simple way of keeping this type of hood away from the face please?

 

[Honeybeeco]

I've noticed the size of veil suits varies between different makes of suits.

I have a cheaper suit at the moment, whilst I get my more expensive UK brand repaired where I ripped it a week ago, and the veil on the cheaper one touches my chin as well I found.

Perhaps this is one of those, you get what you pay for products.

What make do you have?

 

[Obee1]

I have a suit with a fencing type hood. I wear a baseball cap in an attempt to stop the veil touching my face. The cap keeps it from my eyes but the lower piece flops back against my face and I get stung on the chin or nose.
Has any one worked out a simple way of keeping this type of hood away from the face please?

Short of sewing a hoop of wire in at chin level I can't see how you would stop this - maybe a chin reduction I have the brimmed hat type of veil and there is no way any bee can get at my face. Even though about 30 angry ones tried really hard yesterday.

 

[Barbarian]

Have read of beeks sticking a bit of duct tape on their chin.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Have read of beeks sticking a bit of duct tape on their chin.

Why not on the offending area inside the veil?

 

[Jack Straw]

Baseball cap

Same problem, veil blew against face when looking at an aggressive colony resulting in 5 stings to the chin and a trip to A&E for some liquid piriton and a lie down for more than a few hours.

My solution:
I wear a baseball cap in the usual way to keep the veil off my forehead. I have a second cap which I put upside down so that the part that my head goes in is covering my tie (or it would do if I was wearing one but hopefully you get the picture) and the peak of the cap is over my chin, lips and nose. It is held in place by zipping up my suit over it. Works perfectly for me on the windiest of days.

 

[Obee1]

Same problem, veil blew against face when looking at an aggressive colony resulting in 5 stings to the chin and a trip to A&E for some liquid piriton and a lie down for more than a few hours.

My solution:
I wear a baseball cap in the usual way to keep the veil off my forehead. I have a second cap which I put upside down so that the part that my head goes in is covering my tie (or it would do if I was wearing one but hopefully you get the picture) and the peak of the cap is over my chin, lips and nose. It is held in place by zipping up my suit over it. Works perfectly for me on the windiest of days.

Think you've helped me decide what type of veil to have on the bee jacket im about to buy for quick trips down the garden to the hives. It's round brimmed hat for me then!

 

[madasafish]

If you want a temporary fix.:
Get some plastic coated gardening wire: the thicker stuff.
Bend it into a shape which makes the veil stand away from your face.
Apply to inside of veil.

Attach with gaffer tape.
Experiment until it works well.

Fix with clear tape# and glue..

# so it does not impede vision..(Glass repair tape is very strong and flexible)..

 

[Nige.Coll]

Growing a large beard works.

 

[Obee1]

Growing a large beard works.

Good tip. I'll do that then!

 

[madasafish]

Good tip. I'll do that then!

The original bearded lady then

 

[oliver90owner]

Buy a suit with the tradional hooped hat and veil?

 

[hedgehog66]

Buy a fake beard

 

[Tremyfro]

Good tip. I'll do that then!

Can't wait to see you at next apiary meeting...sporting your face fuzz.

 

[Obee1]

Buy a fake beard

I will leave nothing to chance and sport a merkin plus a fake beard. Can't be too careful where bees are concerned. .

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Getting back to the question, I confess to being slightly puzzled.

A beek with 20 hives getting, by the sound of it, a fair number of stings round the face?

I've found that, as I've got more experienced, the number of stings I receive has dropped. Indeed, I'm being a very brave boy this season and trying to examine the bees without gloves. At present, I generally keep one hand ungloved (well it's a start). And so far I've been stung just once - when helping a clumsy novice to do an inspection. (Doh! Never thought of that!)

So does the question arise: what's causing the stinging behaviour? Stroppy bees or operator error?

Dusty

 

[jd101k2000]

I think that stings are caused by operator error, stroppy bees, tense/nervous beekeepers giving off smells (sweat!) that excite the bees, certain illnesses causing people to exude scents that bees don't like, certain types of clothing material, certain colours, scents left on your equipment from previous bee-related activities, perfume/aftershave/shampoo, the weather and bad luck. Some bees just don't like some people.

By the way, here are some knitted beards that may help:
https://www.etsy.com/market/knit_beard

 

[PaulCarroll]

I have seen someone who has sewn curtain weights onto the bottom of the veil to stop the wind blowing it and to ensure it continues to remain taut and away from the chin. I discovered this novel solution only after receiving a similar sting to the chin. How does the phrase go " no gain without pain"!!

 

[Brian Bush]

Getting back to the question, I confess to being slightly puzzled.

A beek with 20 hives getting, by the sound of it, a fair number of stings round the face?

I've found that, as I've got more experienced, the number of stings I receive has dropped. Indeed, I'm being a very brave boy this season and trying to examine the bees without gloves. At present, I generally keep one hand ungloved (well it's a start). And so far I've been stung just once - when helping a clumsy novice to do an inspection. (Doh! Never thought of that!)

So does the question arise: what's causing the stinging behaviour? Stroppy bees or operator error?

Dusty

Hi Dusty

No I do not get a large number of stings on the face.
My usual suit has a different type of veil.
This one which I use for a spare has a fencing hood which I find a little disconcerting. I have only used it about 10 times but in my opinion the hood is too floppy and blows against you in a breeze. I loaned it to another beek a few days ago and he received a chin sting. I was forced to wear it to collect a swarm on Sunday, SWBO had washed my usual suit, I was 15ft up a tree and the veil was against my face and a little blighter got me.
I was just wondering when I posted this thread if anyone had come up with an easy solution. I wear a baseball cap to keep it away from my forehead and large nose!!
Brian

 

[steve1958]

I get the same problem.
The little loves sit on the veil.
I lean forward. The veil touches the front of my chin and as it does I breath on them.
On a bad day this results in a sting to the chin.

I guess I could try to stop breathing and see if that helps.