[Demoh]

Looking to add (yet another) jacket as I try out different styles and brands. Im in Florida so its hot 97% of the time, nice 2% of the time, and cold 1% of the time. Ive done a bunch of review searching but havent found the 'right' review for what I am wanting.

Veil and long sleeve shirt isnt really an option. I wear nitrile gloves as I am not confident/experienced enough to go bare skin so another jacket of a different veil style it is. My current is the Dadant ventilated V01251S. My goal would be lighter weight / cooler than that one with the fencing style hood. I have yet to get stung through it so I think its a little overboard.

What does everybody use in the in the nice 98 degree weather with 90% humidity down here?

If not a vented jacket I may go after a veil + long sleeve canvas / denim combo, single layer and lightweight. Ive seen some beekeepers around here with stuff like that but have never gotten any idea of where they have gotten stuff like that from.

 

[snl]

Bee club sales has the best jackets (imo) as the veil opens around the facial area in addition to the full veil opening. This is great for eating, drinking, driving without throwing back the full veil. No one else has this that I’ve seen.
It’s awesome.

 

[Trin]

I wonder if this is the company;

https://guardianbeeapparel.com/

Don't have one of their jackets. I just have them bookmarked for future consideration. Seem to have some nice features. The Dadent suit is made out of the same material I think, based on the pictures. It is pricier.

 

[snl]

I wonder if this is the company;

https://guardianbeeapparel.com/

Don't have one of their jackets. I just have them bookmarked for future consideration. Seem to have some nice features. The Dadent suit is made out of the same material I think, based on the pictures. It is pricier.

Looks like BCS, buy BCS is a lot cheaper.

https://www.beeclubsales.com/#/

 

[HarryVanderpool]

O.K. You asked for the coolest.
I have been wearing the coolest all year.
My daughter bought me a jacket and veil for my birthday last summer.
I took one look at it and thought, YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!!!"
She gave me something similar to this:
https://www.amazon.com/GORCHEN-Beek...ventilated+bee+jacket&qid=1595316103&sr=8-103

But I was polite. I wore it when checking nucs or mowing around hives.
Slowly but surely, It has become my first choice among all of my options.
Can you get stung? Yes. I have been stung 5 or 6 times this year wearing this type of jacket.
But for me the question is, "do I want to work comfortable and cool every day and get a few stings, or is it better to sweat and guzzle water all day long in misery to avoid a random sting or two?"
I have a Mann Lake Ultrabreeze and a stack of new ones in the closet.
But if there isn't a substantial breeze blowing, this type of ventilated jackets become a heavy blanket that traps heat, ventilated or not.
BUT, they do block stings.
My new ultralights keep you as cool as you would be wearing no protection.
I just bought 4 more of the ultralight jackets to stack in the closet for future use.
We're going to start pulling honey next week.
We'll see how that goes.

 

[snl]

If you like them, buy from BeetleJail.com. Support the little guys, not Amazon.

 

[Demoh]

O.K. You asked for the coolest.
I have been wearing the coolest all year.
My daughter bought me a jacket and veil for my birthday last summer.
I took one look at it and thought, YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!!!"
She gave me something similar to this:
https://www.amazon.com/GORCHEN-Beek...ventilated+bee+jacket&qid=1595316103&sr=8-103

But I was polite. I wore it when checking nucs or mowing around hives.
Slowly but surely, It has become my first choice among all of my options.
Can you get stung? Yes. I have been stung 5 or 6 times this year wearing this type of jacket.
But for me the question is, "do I want to work comfortable and cool every day and get a few stings, or is it better to sweat and guzzle water all day long in misery to avoid a random sting or two?"
I have a Mann Lake Ultrabreeze and a stack of new ones in the closet.
But if there isn't a substantial breeze blowing, this type of ventilated jackets become a heavy blanket that traps heat, ventilated or not.
BUT, they do block stings.
My new ultralights keep you as cool as you would be wearing no protection.
I just bought 4 more of the ultralight jackets to stack in the closet for future use.
We're going to start pulling honey next week.
We'll see how that goes.

Ok interesting. I can see myself wearing that, not exactly what I was looking for but maybe I would have the same opinion after actually trying it. This would also help with keeping up with getting stung regularly.

 

[AstroZomBEE]

I can't vouch for coolest.

I find the Ultrabreeze to be the longest lasting vented suit.
I've got a dozen workers in Florida that use them.
All the other brands disintegrate after a month or so of hard bee work.

 

[Demoh]

so I am considering between the guardian that was linked, except they dont have my size, provent from mannlake but cant really tell if its a single layer or 3 layer from pictures, or some of the no-name $20 one thats just a thin mesh, or maybe get one of those no matter what.

The problem I am running into now is size. why is there such a disparity between sizes of jackets? Im an average guy who wears a large tee shirt. Im told medium looks good on me. The Dadant jacket I have is a small and is actually quite roomy, do they just expect that beekeepers are primarily bigger guys? Same with the beekool suits I have. Guardian's sizing is saying either use your teeshirt size or 1 size up.

I guess in typing this ill try the uber lightweight mesh, it will probably help me to become more comfortable around the hives. I still need a nice work jacket thats cool so above questions are still valid, just delayed.