Veil or full suit?

[brazosdog02]

I got a veil in a startup kit from bee-commerce. I have no clue how it ties. It has a long drawstring off the front of it. I'm interested in figuring it out but also knowing if this veil is ok or if I should order a full suit.

Tips?

[sfisher]

Just a jacket with a hood is a good option.

[KMP]

Yeah, a jacket is not a bad idea, because things can get a bit messy (smoker, propolis, honey, wax, etc.). Of course, if you come home from work in a business suit and want to work the bees immediately then a full suit might be a good idea.

I was happy my first year with the jacket and hat/veil. You might consider tucking your pants cuffs into your socks. (There seems to be a Murphy's Law that says "If there's a bee crawling on the grass, she'll end up on your leg.")

-K

[beepro]

This really depends on whether or not you have the gentle bees or aggressive bees. My first 2 hives on the first season really are aggressive bees. They would chase and stung me even with the full suit on. It was like cat
chasing mouse all Summer long. I even got the video of them chasing me inside my truck and out almost 300
yards away. I have to run to get away from them. Imagine that. Now they are all dead.
So even with a full suit on they can still try to sting you. But now my gentle hive is easy to work with a veil
on. Sometimes I don't even wear the veil anymore on a hive check. So I rarely wear my suit now working with gentle bees. But you'll never know what kind of bees you will have. And every season something is different
about their attitudes. So if you need to then buy if not then can wait to see what you have first.

[Andrew Dewey]

The veil string should be pulled taut to close the veil around your neck, and then wrapped around your body before tying (most common is around the waist, strings going in different directions so they meet for tying after wrapping). As to the veil versus full suit debate what matters is your confidence in the equipment to allow you to work your bees. There are times when I will "just" use a veil, especially when I am only going to have a hive open for a few moments and I want to be sure I won't get stung on my face, though most of the time I use a jacket w/ attached veil. An observation - I've learned the hard way that bees can and will sting through jeans. If that is going to be an issue for you a full suit will be a good idea.

[BayHighlandBees]

Veil's been enough for me.

[camero7]

Just a jacket with a hood is a good option.

[brazosdog02]

My veil has strings in the front, but it has some sort of loop in the back and im not sure if the strings are supposed to pass through that or not.

[Intheswamp]

My veil has strings in the front, but it has some sort of loop in the back and im not sure if the strings are supposed to pass through that or not.

Is your veil a helmet with separate veil or a soft hat with sewn on veil? Both my soft hat veil and helmet/veil combo have the string in the back with the loop in the front. ??

Ed

[Barry]

My veil has strings in the front, but it has some sort of loop in the back and im not sure if the strings are supposed to pass through that or not.

Turn it 180 degrees, now the loopis in the front!

[brazosdog02]

LOL...except the mesh will be in the back and the cotton is hard for me to see through.

[Rader Sidetrack]

You may be interested in this current thread on tying drawstrings:
http://www.beesource.com/forums/show...rings-in-front

[Intheswamp]

I mostly use a soft cloth hatted veil with the rigid round screen (I think I see better out of this type of screen). With this I'll add a light colored long sleeve shirt and sometimes straps around my ankles to keep any suprises from crawling up the pants legs. I even did a cutout last year with a veil and t-shirt...got about a dozen stings during it all, but wasn't too bad, at least half the stings were my fault.

I do have a GB jacket if I need more protection but I'm a little iffy on the veil at the moment...I've gotta call Susie.

Ed

[Rusty Hills Farm]

You're in Texas? Then I think it would be reasonable to have a full suit available to you. Y'never know what you are gonna come upon. But for working your own hives, I bet a veil is all you'll really need and, if you're like me, half the time you'll forget to put it on!


Rusty

[Intheswamp]

Good catch, Rusty. I didn't pay attention to bd2's location. I think I would want to have a suit available, also.

Ed

[brazosdog02]

Hmmmm.....Yeah, im in texas. Maybe the beekeeping class in Brenham will have them for sale.