Bee clothing ( helmet ) and general info

[djgriggs]

referring to clothing,,, if you have a bee suit, what is the point of also having a vented helmet? I have the suit / set of work gloves to use but I do not understand the use of the helmet.  Eventually I will be comfortable enough to move to just the jacket.

Gloves ,,, I believe the work gloves that I have will work well however Is there a certain type of gloves that needs to be used ? Also what material to us for the smoker ? , I have seen everything to buy online but I have also read to use pine needles.

[iddee]

Clothing.... Wear what is comfortable and protects you.

gloves.... Dish washing latex or hi-dollar goatskin, or anything in between.

fuel.... pine needles, burlap, denim, old T-shirt, dry grass. Anything giving off cool smoke. Not flames.

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Mr. Griggs, you most likely have oak in your area.  Do not use oak leaves, the leaves burn well, produce lots of smoke but the heat produced is to hot and will burn the bees wings.

I buy wood pellets, horse bedding (pine pellets, not oak)in 40 pound bags, cost about $5 bucks.  I lite with a hand held propane torch the automatic self start available at local hardware store such as Lowe?s or Home Depot. One 14 ounce can of propane last me a full year.

Beginners seem to have a problem keeping a smoker going, the propane torch, one click start will solve that problem.  My smoker 3/4 full of wood pellets last about 8 hours, that is all day because I work about 20 or less hives.

This is one suggestion to consider, there are many methods as mentioned by Iddee such as cotton works well too. 

[cao]

I've never worn a suit or jacket.  I may eventually get a jacket someday.  I've only used a hat and veil.  I'm comfortable enough around my bees that during the heat of the summer I just wear t-shirt and shorts(with veil).  Wear what you are comfortable with.  I advise to at least have some protection for your face.

I don't use gloves.  I like to feel if I am going to smash a bee before it gets smashed.  If you are going to use gloves, I recommend the thinnest gloves that you are comfortable with.

I've only used pine needles for the smoker.  I have an endless supply so I don't see the need to try anything else.

[Hops Brewster]

The helmet is just one version of the veil.  It is also one of the oldest versions.  Whether you choose to use a self-supporting veil or a helmet and its associated soft veil is up to you.  You can choose to use a manufactured suit/jacket with veil combo, or use just a veil over whatever painter's coveralls or shirt you choose.   there are several different manufacturers of suits, jackets and veils.  some are made of a venting mesh material for use in high temperatures.  some are heavy canvas and hotter than the devil's undergarments.  Shop around.

You will find old-timey beeks on Youtube working without any protective gear at all.  I strongly recommend that you use at least a veil, to protect your eyes.

A short synopsis of my bee clothing journey;
I started with a full suit and veil combo and goatskin beek's gloves.  Too hot in the summer, I bought a jacket and started using dishwashing gloves.  Better, but still too hot and I damaged a lot of bees with my gloved fingers.  That sure made them mad!

I moved to a mosquito jacket and nitrile gloves.  Better.  Still hot.  Nitrile gloves gave me a better feel for the bees than either leather gloves or rubber gloves and I PO'd the bees less.  Fewer stings this way.

Now I have a mesh veil and last year I started working bees barehanded.  Now I am able to work nearly as cool as wearing no gear at all.  I have an excellent feel for the bees, damaging far fewer and getting them less angry.  Fewer stings than ever before.  For routine inspections and chores this is "the bees' knees". 

I still might use the jacket and nitrile gloves when I'm doing very invasive work, such as removing a queen or some such, but I really dislike all that gear now.

My newest favorite smoker fuel now is chipped fruitwood.  I was using the pine straw under my pine, and it worked very well but the smoke was annoying to me.  Now I found that using the chipped wood of the prunings from my fruit trees (apple, plum and peach) are much more pleasant to me.

[bwallace23350]

referring to clothing,,, if you have a bee suit, what is the point of also having a vented helmet? I have the suit / set of work gloves to use but I do not understand the use of the helmet.  Eventually I will be comfortable enough to move to just the jacket.

Gloves ,,, I believe the work gloves that I have will work well however Is there a certain type of gloves that needs to be used ? Also what material to us for the smoker ? , I have seen everything to buy online but I have also read to use pine needles.

I am in Alabama also. Get something breathable with what ever you get.

[Beeboy01]

I started with the full cotton moon suit, veil, safari hat and full length gloves. After a couple years of roasting I ditched the moon suit except for harvesting. For regular inspections and bee yard work I now wear a safari hat with the veil stitched to it, full gloves and a tee shirt, long pants and sneakers. I pick up an occasional sting on the arm between the top of the glove and shirt sleeve. A white dress shirt from Good Will works great for a light weight bee jacket.
  The gear you wear really depends on your bees mood. Sometimes my yard gets downright nasty, other days they are calm. For smoker fuel I use pine needles. I break small branches off pine trees and hang them on the bee yard fence to dry or just pick them up off the ground. I've also found that cut up pieces of pine knots or fat lighter will give a nice heavy cool smoke when dropped into a well lit smoker.
  Don't get a metal screened veil, they rust out pretty quickly at the worst possible moment, learned that one the hard way. LOL     

[djgriggs]

referring to clothing,,, if you have a bee suit, what is the point of also having a vented helmet? I have the suit / set of work gloves to use but I do not understand the use of the helmet.  Eventually I will be comfortable enough to move to just the jacket.

Gloves ,,, I believe the work gloves that I have will work well however Is there a certain type of gloves that needs to be used ? Also what material to us for the smoker ? , I have seen everything to buy online but I have also read to use pine needles.

I am in Alabama also. Get something breathable with what ever you get.

After reading the many replies I think I am good to go.  I am trying to make sure that I have all of my bases covered as I pick up my bees in two weeks. Just trying to figure out if I want to incorporate the boxes that I get into my hives or do I want to take those frames and physically insert them into the new hive which would also let me go through them to see the current condition.

Any thoughts on that. If I was to move the new frames of bees into the new hive. I was thinking considering this >>> Bee frame / New frame / Bee Frame , etc. This way I would transfer the bees that I pick up into my two brood boxes.  Any thoughts on that.

[Acebird]

There are two types of head dress.  One is like a safari hat sometimes hard plastic with a veil that sets on the rim and drapes on your shoulders.  It may zipper.  The other is like a fencing helmet with stays in it to keep off your face.  With this type don't look up because it puts the screen on your nose and the bees watch.

I always prefer to do the least I can do or I do one thing at a time.  So initially I would use what comes with the frames if it is a normal bee box.  In 3-4 days if you want to inspect you can transfer the frames.  My reasoning is so they don't abscond after the move.  Let them get settled and then dig in.

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Ace, you gave good advice, (let the bees settle for 3-4 days)...,  However, I believe Mr. Griggs is very excited, anxious, about receiving his bees and has built some beautiful hive bodies just waiting for bees.  The poor guy would be tortured to wait a few days as he has the bee fever and the only cure is bee involvement.

So Mr. Griggs, go ahead and transfer the bee frames with the bees if the weather is permitting.  One word of importance {SLOWLY}.  When removing frames go very slowly.  You do not want to roll and damage the queen.  When I remove a hive lid, and look upon the bees, instinctively I look for the most crowded frame{s} as this is most likely the frame{s} the queen is on.

There are hives so crowded that all the frames are filled with bees, then it is a guess where the queen is.  In which case just remember to pull a frame slowly feeling for resistance caused by rolling bees on very crowded frames.  Pull an outside or the least crowded frame very slowly.  Once a frame is removed you can create working space to lessen the chance of rolling bees on subsequent frames.
Blessings

[Acebird]

You do not want to roll and damage the queen.

Happens with excitement.
Definitely take that outside frame out first.  99.9 % of the time the queen will not be on the outside frame when you open the hive.
The real trick is to be able to put the hive back together when you are not in a panic.  That is the most likely time the queen will get rolled.
If panic starts remember ujjayi breathing.  You will be one with the bees.

[cao]

Just to clarify what Van and Ace said.  Once the outside frame(least number of bees) is removed you can slide the next frame over so there is space on both sides before lifting it out.  With that extra space you won't roll any bees.  When putting the frames it the new box you reverse the process.  Set the frame in the box with space on both sides then slide it slowly up against the next frame.  I've seen people just pry up any frame no matter if it is full of bees or not and shove it right back down in the middle of two frames.  It makes my skin crawl every time.  If you find the queen then just be extra gentle with that frame.

If it will be the first time digging into a hive then Ace's reminder to breathe is very good advise.  For a new beekeeper the sensory overload can be a little overwhelming.  From time to time I still have to remind myself to breathe.

[djgriggs]

Ace, you gave good advice, (let the bees settle for 3-4 days)...,  However, I believe Mr. Griggs is very excited, anxious, about receiving his bees and has built some beautiful hive bodies just waiting for bees.  The poor guy would be tortured to wait a few days as he has the bee fever and the only cure is bee involvement.

So Mr. Griggs, go ahead and transfer the bee frames with the bees if the weather is permitting.  One word of importance {SLOWLY}.  When removing frames go very slowly.  You do not want to roll and damage the queen.  When I remove a hive lid, and look upon the bees, instinctively I look for the most crowded frame{s} as this is most likely the frame{s} the queen is on.

There are hives so crowded that all the frames are filled with bees, then it is a guess where the queen is.  In which case just remember to pull a frame slowly feeling for resistance caused by rolling bees on very crowded frames.  Pull an outside or the least crowded frame very slowly.  Once a frame is removed you can create working space to lessen the chance of rolling bees on subsequent frames.
Blessings

Van / Ace, I am very excited however I waited this long a few more days would not kill me , :P . Yes take it slowly very slowly. :) I am a bit concerned / worried about transferring the frames as in the best way to do so .. The two hives i have , include 2 brood boxes. One is foundation and one is foundationless.. I was thinking of checkerboarding the current loaded frames with the new frames but did not know if that would be the correct thing to do as I am wondering if it might confuse the bees by splitting the frames apart or separating brood frames ?  I have been told that the single boxes of bees that I will be picking up include a full 10 frame of bees. 2 boxes , that is 20 frames of bees,, well that is if they are full of bees like I am told. ..

Will it hurt if I checkerboard the bee frames into the new hive with the new frames ?

Thanks everyone,, always a great help and source of knowledge.

[Acebird]

This is where local advice might help.  I would not checkerboard the hive.  Neither one.  Understand that the true meaning of checkerboard is with honey not brood.
Checkerboarding brood is a violation of non-intervention beekeeping in the worst way.

[djgriggs]

This is where local advice might help.  I would not checkerboard the hive.  Neither one.  Understand that the true meaning of checkerboard is with honey not brood.
Checkerboarding brood is a violation of non-intervention beekeeping in the worst way.

Thank you very much for this clarification ... I will have to look see if I can locate someone local to speak with on the best practice. I joined a local bee association here in my area , but in all honesty they have not been much help.. I have tried to reach out multiple time to see if they could not connect me with a mentor or anyone beginning or seasoned that is a member. but they after never responded to my emails... at this point I feel for the most part on my own, other than all the bee forums that I have found. I have been getting more help and info from the forums that I ever could get from the local bee associations.

[cao]

I have tried to reach out multiple time to see if they could not connect me with a mentor or anyone beginning or seasoned that is a member. but they after never responded to my emails... at this point I feel for the most part on my own, other than all the bee forums that I have found. I have been getting more help and info from the forums that I ever could get from the local bee associations.

Don't feel too bad not having a local mentor.  Beemaster was and still is my mentor.  That's what we are here for.

Ace is correct about the checkerboarding.  It is typically done in the honey above the brood nest allowing the brod nest to expand.  If the bees you are getting need more space, I would add an empty frame or two at the most.

[Acebird]

I have been getting more help and info from the forums that I ever could get from the local bee associations.

Help from bee associations may not be as immediate as internet forums.  Your are dealing face to face with people that you can identify.  There is as much disagreement in associations as there is online but people are not afraid to help when sitting behind a keyboard (usually).  The benefit of associations is that generally they know what is common practice for your area rather than me a 1000 miles away telling you what I think.
After saying this I would have never made it without forums.  We will help as much as we can but don't turn off the local help if it is available.
Just a note:  The primary reason a local person doesn't want to help is the fear that you will blame them for the death of your hive if you follow what they say.  Of course the same thing could happen on line but with on line the person is not there witnessing that you did what you were told or ad libbed something.  In this case the person giving help doesn't feel guilty.

[capt44]

You can wear complete suits and be like a spaceman BUT here in Arkansas the middle of May will be too hot to wear all that clothing.
I got a long sleeve white shirt at a handicap clothing store for 50 cents.
Their was a gal sewed a zipper in it and I put some velcrose for the neck area.
When the temps get high you will have a heat stroke with all that gear on.
I just wear the long sleeve shirt a light viel and hardly wear gloves unless the gals are mean.
Wear what you can work in comfortably

[Joe D]

Being new you will want to be in there a lot, it is hard not to, I use to go out and just watch for hours.  On your foundationless hive, you will need to keep an eye on their building foundation.  if they get it crossing frames, you can straighten it while it is fairly new, harder after they get used to it and it has harden and they will want to keep running it crooked. Also make sure the hive is level.
Have you joined your local bee club.  I get most of my bee lessons from here as some of the others have said.

Good luck to you and your bees,

Joe D