What trousers to wear?

[Beezy]

Hi there,

I was just wondering what trousers should be worn whilst working with the bees? I have a tunic & veil but wear jeans at the moment. Also, some people have mentioned wearing wellies, but don't the bees find their way inside?

Thanks

 

[Gillybee]

Hi Beezy,

I have an all in one bee suit, I just wear shorts underneath with no shirt, and I use boots for the footwear, I dont use gloves either.

Gillybee.

 

[Black Comb]

You can buy beesuit trousers as seperates. Well worth it IMO as it stops your trousers getting dirty with propolis (which is difficult to get off) wax and yes bee poo.

You should tuck your tunic into these overtrousers to stop the bees gaining access.

Bees do go upwards so this makes sense, as does wearing wellies - again the bees will go up and not down the wellies.

Read the sticky at the very beginning of this section from RoyS about covering yourself up and the consquences of not wearing wellies.

Not wearing gloves is against all current teaching.

 

[Poly Hive]

Whose teaching?

Not mine. If you can have the pleasure of handling bees with no gloves then enjoy it.

PH

 

[victor meldrew]

Whose teaching?

Not mine. If you can have the pleasure of handling bees with no gloves then enjoy it.

PH

I suspect Peters is referring to f.e.r.a.'s advice on the wearing of disposable gloves as against the old leather ones, particularly in teaching apiaries !where people are handling bees other than their own then working on their own bees thus creating a two way conduit for pathogens.

John Wilkinson

 

[peteinwilts]

with polyhive

but then I don't eat Pufferfish, don't play russian roulette and I also cross busy roads at zebra crossings.

 

[Black Comb]

Yes it's from the Regional Bee Inspector who is a full time professional, keeps lots of hives himself and no doubt is up-to-date with all the latest info. Also, will have (dare I say) more experience than almost everyone on here.

As I said, it's the current teaching, others who were taught in different times will no doubt have different ideas.

Thats the beauty of a forum...

I must say, some of these comments go a bit against the general agreement with RoyS's post?

For the benefit of the OP, any other thoughts on trousers?

 

[Rosti]

One point from the original question missed in responses.

Wearing wellingtons: bees tend to crawl both up and into the dark, on that basis open bottomed trousers will allow them in and up your legs (as I found one evening after a night time feeder re-fill without protection, no stings though). Wellies give a secure closure and allow bees crawling upward no access.

 

[victor meldrew]

with polyhive

but then I don't eat Pufferfish, don't play russian roulette and I also cross busy roads at zebra crossings.

And your point?
Proof that you are Macho ?
Ask any commercial man does he wear gloves and almost to a man the answer will be " yes unless you want your hands to resemble paddles, fingers stuck together with propolis
I wear gloves , disposable ones but I remove one in order to pick up a queen ! I subsequently replace it with a new one as it's the pits trying to get the used one back on .

John Wilkinson

 

[Beezy]

Thanks for the replies! I'll wear wellies from now on, as I don't want a repeat of last weekend where several bees managed to get inside my jeans leg and I got a few painful stings! I personally don't really want an all-in-one suit but I'll look into those bee trews too.

 

[VEG]

All bee inspectors should now be wearing full suits as well as gloves.

 

[shonabee]

I had a smock-and-veil combo, and found the only sure-fire way to avoid stings was to tuck smock into trousers. Otherwise when you bend down it leaves the small of your back exposed. I also found that mine was too loose at the bottom so they could get in to sting my tummy if they were determined enough. This only happened on one occasion when they wwere particualrly grumpy.
I also found that if the trousers were at all tight anywhere then they could sting through them easily - not as painful as a direct hit, but still something I could live without!

I never tried the beekeeping trousers - these might help.

 

[barry]

before i got my bee suit i was wearing a smock and veil with jeans on and to stop the bees going up my trousers i wore gators and my comfortable walking boots.

 

[Hivemaker.]

And your point?
Proof that you are Macho ?
Ask any commercial man does he wear gloves and almost to a man the answer will be " yes unless you want your hands to resemble paddles, fingers stuck together with propolis
I wear gloves , disposable ones but I remove one in order to pick up a queen ! I subsequently replace it with a new one as it's the pits trying to get the used one back on .

John Wilkinson

Yes your right John,always wear gloves,keeps your hands clean and can be rinsed between hives,also gauntlets where the join is.
I also clip queens without removing gloves,just faster.
Boiler suit and wellies,with boiler suit legs outside of wellies,never had no problem yet with bee's going up me legs,think they are much more likely to go up one of those smocks.

 

[VEG]

deleted posted in wrong thread

..