Newbie looking for protective gear ideas

[Matthew Berigan]

Good afternoon,

I went to the local [Brazilian] ag store where bee supplies are sold. What I found was cheap and awful. The suits and headgear are a single unified piece (I expected separate pieces) and the gloves are simply heavy rubber gloves (I expected layered leather/fabric).

OK - imagine the hottest Wisconsin day and you need to work your bees PLUS they're being particularly aggressive (my experience here will be with Africanized/Italian bees).

OK - it is REALLY hot here and I'll probably be in a mangrove swamp (steamy) too.

Looking for:

1. suggestions for complete protection from head to toe for fierce bees and possible work with red paper wasps (Polistes canadensis)
2. suggestions for decent brandnames/vendors of protective gear

My plan is to attempt to buy the gear online/remotely and have it shipped to an address in the USA where I can pick it up later this year.

thx

Matthew (Mateus) Berigan  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Campina Grande, Paraiba Brasil

608-509-4512 (Google to Hangouts line)

083-99998-4928 (Brasil cell) TIM

608-237-1596 (U.S. line)

mber...@berigan.com
mber...@uwalumni.com
mber...@yahoo.com
mber...@gmail.com

[BETSY TRUE]

Matthew, look for ultra breeze jackets.

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From: mad...@googlegroups.com <mad...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Matthew Berigan <mber...@berigan.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2020 3:28:40 PM
To: mad...@googlegroups.com <mad...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [madbees] Newbie looking for protective gear ideas

 

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[Myke Kinsella]

Hi Matthew,

I believe the best suit out there is the Ultrabreeze suit.  I didn’t want to mess around with cheaper suits and really didn’t want to get stung.  I also know how hot it can be in the middle of summer.  For these reasons I bought this suit and love it.  I have used it 2 summers and have never gotten stung.  My partner had a cheaper suit and was stung several times this year.  As far as aggressive bees go, I have dealt the most aggressive you can imagine this year and still was not stung with bees swarming all around me.  When my hives got big and aggressive last summer and encountered their wrath, I was very nervous, but after several inspections and never getting stung I grew more and more confident that if I had this suit on, I wasn’t getting stung.

 

As for keeping cool…If it is even a little windy, you can feel the air move right through this suit.  I still got sweaty on the really hot days but it did help keep me relatively cool.

 

https://www.ultrabreezesuits.com/

 

For gloves I just bought goat skin.  I think any of that type of glove will work.  Bees will sting my glove but I just watch them do it and feel nothing.

Thanks,
Myke

 

 

From: Matthew Berigan
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2020 4:28 PM
To: mad...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [madbees] Newbie looking for protective gear ideas

 

Good afternoon,

[Matt H]

Another fan of Ultra Breeze suits here. I own 2 suits and a jacket. I wouldn't ever go back to the canvas type. Not only are they cool and darn near impenetrable to stings, but they are built very well. Very strong seams, quality materials, and high quality zippers. Downsides to them is they aren't cheap and their greatest weakness is sparks from your smoker.

Pro tip: use some beeswax to lubricate the zippers.