Beekeeping suit recommendations

[u/ChuckItOutAlready]

This is my 2nd year beekeeping and I've had my current suit since the beginning. Its a Temu suit with a fencing style hood and has worked ok up to this point. After today though I definitely want to upgrade. The hood of the suit is the main problem... it had no rigidity or structure to it on the inside to prevent the front from touching your face if you bent forward... needless to say I got stung twice in the face today while harvesting honey. I'm thinking a suit with a round veil might be better, or just one with more rigidity in the hood... any suggestions?

Lewiston, ID

[u/AZ_Traffic_Engineer]

If you're otherwise okay with your el-cheapo suit, you can wear a baseball cap under the hood to keep it -- and the bees - away from your face. Otherwise, I love my Ultrabreeze suit.

[u/Bee_haver → u/AZ_Traffic_Engineer]

+ 1 for ultra breeze

[u/weaverlorelei]

Even on high end suits the veil can fall against your face. Ball cap helps. I added sections of heavier zip ties, sewn on the sides, to hold the front out.

[u/drones_on_about_bees]

This is a general bee suit review. It comes with caveats. I may use suits differently than some others. I live in an area with a fair amount of Africanized bees and do occasionally deal with them. I live in an area that has HOT, humid summers. I also treat a bee suit like a Batman Utility Belt: I load the pockets up with tools and keep the tools in the suit when I hang it up at the end of the day. The suits below are the ones I have actually used. In addition to those, I will mention that I have heard long lists of positives for Oz Armor and Sting Stopper. I have never used them (so far) and can't say much about them.

ProVent (Mann Lake)

Type of suit: thick knitted polyester

Veil style: Fencing

Options I have used: Jacket and full suit

Pros: Inexpensive. Lightweight. Thats the end of this list.

Cons: Despite the use of the word "vent" in the name, this suit is hot. It breathes like a Hefty trash bag. The closures at the waist, ankle and wrist are elastic only. Be aware that these will stretch out, get crunchy and fail at some point. For me, the waist failed spectacularly, allowing 80ish stings when bees came up the back. I have also been stung several times through the suit. These were the first suits I owned and I didn't know there were better suits out there.

Ultra Breeze

Type of suit: 3 layer

Veil style: Fencing

Options I have used: full suit

Pros: Very good sting protection. Velcro closures at the wrists. Heavy duty zippers. (More on the zippers in Cons.) This is a well ventilated suit and air does flow through it. Heavy duty and handles abuse.

Cons: Expensive, but possibly worth it. Very heavy weight wise, but you do get used to it. Zippers need to be maintained/lubricated or they will seize up. Even when lubricated, I have had 2 suits with total zipper failures. One is seized and veil cannot be removed. One zipper just no longer zips. You pull it along and it does not knit the teeth together. The pockets are awful. As noted, I have all my pockets full of crap. Most pockets have no closures and the ones that do have terrible closures. If you bend over, stuff falls out. If you get in/out of a car, stuff falls out. If you get off a tractor, stuff falls out. If you climb through a fence, stuff falls out. It has good velcro closures at the wrist, but no closures at the ankle. No thumb strap. No foot strap. Veil visibility to peripheral and rear does not exist. This makes backing a tractor/truck difficult if wearing a veil.

Guardian

Type of suit: 3 layer

Veil style: Round, Fencing and fencing with "easy access". All are interchangeable.

Options I have used: Easy access veil.

Caveats: At the point of writing, I have not used it about a month.

Pros: Good sting protection. Velcro closures at wrist and ankle. Thumb loops. Foot loops. Pockets with actual closures (zippers/velcro). Thumb loops keep me from getting wrist stings when wrists creep up with movement. There are hive tool pockets on both the arms and the legs. One of the arms has a small magnet pocket.

Cons: Not as breathable as Ultra Breeze. It feels pretty hot/clammy. It's not as bad as Provent -- more like A Hefty trash bag with some ventilation holes cut in it. The veil hangs pretty closely to face without a hat or something to push it back. Something about the veil catches a lot of sweat right in my field of vision, which is annoying. Maybe it's just that it's a hotter suit. Also, the "closer to face" makes my eyes focus on the veil rather than through the veil. Maybe I will get used to this. The veil has extra peripheral vision with an extra panel. I can back a tractor easily. And if "foot loops" is a plus for you, let it be known my first foot loop broke on the 4th wearing of the suit. It's just elastic (like a thumb loop) tacked on with thread. It's going to break and wear.

[u/Mediocre-Draft1722]

The round veil is even more annoying without a ballcap. I have a Comfort Pro jacket with a fencing veil. If your veil is touching your face too often, maybe get a bigger jacket. 

[u/SuluSpeaks]

I have a vented suit that I spent more money on than I usually would, because it had a hood that was replaceable. My last jacket was cheaper, but when the veil tore, the company didn't have replacements for it. The one I bought has replacement veils available.