Practical beekeeping: Bee suits

Bee suits – protection for beekeepers but not for bees?

Monica Barlow and Nicola Bradbear

Bee-proof clothing is useful in providing confidence for the beginner working with bees. It is important to learn to be gentle with bees, and never to harm or aggravate them.

Bees sting to protect their brood nest and honey stores. However there are times when no matter how careful the beekeeper, bees sting. Careful handling, good observation and understanding of the need to maintain the scent, heat and humidity within the brood nest, all enable a beekeeper to manage bees without getting stung.

Many beekeepers do not wear special protective clothing when visiting their bees. The immediate effect of a sting is sharp pain followed by itching and swelling, the result of histamine being released into human tissues. Most beekeepers develop some immunity and react moderately to stings. Severe results occur only if a person receives dozens of stings at once. Very few people are hypersensitive to bee venom and undergo anaphylactic shock. Stings on the eyes can cause blindness, and in the mouth or nose can impede breathing. For this reason, head covering is the most important type of protection.

Sting and smoke

A worker bee uses her sting to defend her colony, and she dies in doing so. When a bee stings, she produces a pheromone recognised by her nest mates as a danger signal. More bees rush to the source of the scent to defend their home, and many stings can result.

Beekeepers have known for centuries that the scent of a sting is an alarm call to other bees, and their oldest protection has always been smoke. Smoke hides the scent of the sting and disrupts the colony’s communication system, thereby giving the beekeeper more time to remove honey or inspect combs. If stung, it is good to blow smoke over the sting as soon as possible to mask the scent.

These straw hats with veils are made in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

Gentleness is most important when manipulating hives. Bees dislike their nest being knocked, and will interpret rapid or panicky movements as a threat, so all dealings with bees should be quiet, careful and efficient. Clumsy handling kills bees and will provoke defensive behaviour from other workers in the nest. Experienced beekeepers learn not to flinch when stung, to avoid alerting the bees further. It is best to avoid working in conditions when bees are most likely to sting, such as in thundery weather, just after the end of the honey flow, or when bees are under stress from shortage of food.

Some species or strains of bee are more defensive than others. Amongst Asian bees the hive bee Apis cerana is rarely provoked, yet as described in the article on pages 6 – 10, Apis dorsata can be highly defensive, and bees from many colonies combine to attack a potential predator. Amongst Apis mellifera, honey bees in Africa and in the Americas are more readily alerted to danger signals than European honey bees. Beekeepers working with some of these bees have a greater need for protective clothing.

Good gear

The most useful protection from bee stings is a head covering. This can be as simple as a hat or head cloth to prevent bees getting caught in hair. A veil keeps bees away from the face: the simplest can be made from fine netting (such as mosquito netting) over a wide-brimmed hat, and tucked into the shirt collar. Dark mesh fabric is easier to see through than light-coloured mesh. Instructions for making a simple mask and veil, using wire mesh and cotton fabric over a frame made of flexible branches, can be found in BfDJ 23*.

A long-sleeved shirt and trousers provide further protection. It is good to put elastic at the wrists, and tuck trousers into boots, to prevent bees crawling up the arms or legs. Light-coloured clothing will show up bees and enable them to be brushed off without hurting them. Similarly, avoid too many folds or creases in clothes where bees could get caught. Full overalls with veils attached are available from beekeeping equipment suppliers, however these are expensive and increase the cost of your beekeeping enterprise. Whatever clothing is used, it must be washed frequently so that it is free of scents from previous apiary visits or stings. Bees dislike strong scents such as human sweat, perfume, or strong foods such as garlic. Be clean but avoid the use of scented lotions or soaps. Cloth boots can be made from synthetic woven material such as cane sugar sacks, and worn over ordinary sandals or shoes. (BfDJ 22*)

A effective veil keeps bees away from the head and is essential for beginner beekeepers

Gloves are rarely worn by experienced beekeepers but beginners like to use them. Light, close-fitting rubber gloves are best: they are dextrous and easily cleaned. Large leather gloves are not good: they are too stiff and bulky to handle combs, cannot be washed and will retain the scent of old stings or squashed bees. Thick gloves may protect hands from stings, but they make the beekeeper clumsy and therefore more likely to be stung. BfDJ 43* included an article on making low-cost gloves from plastic tubes.

Experienced beekeepers often prefer to work without a veil, but a veil can help beginners to gain confidence

Bee friendly

In the past, beekeepers have tried to breed more ‘docile’ strains of Apis mellifera, that are less likely to sting, by carrying out selective breeding programmes. However, it is now thought that this may reduce colony resilience and resistance to disease. Understanding that bees sting only when they are defending their brood nest and honey stores from attack is an important attribute of the successful beekeeper.

Our aim is to be careful with the bees, and not to harm them: we are benefitting from their production of honey and beeswax, and we can at least be kind to them.

Beekeeper at the Kodagu Beekeeping Museum, Karnataka, India, working with the Asian bee Apis cerana: no special clothing necessary!

*These articles are available at www.beesfordevelopment.org/ resources-for-beekeepers/ informationportal

Author details

Bees for Development, 1 Agincourt Street, Monmouth NP25 3DZ, UK