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A plus size bee suit has to give room at the chest, belly, seat and thighs without legs that drag and cuffs that gape. Here is how to measure, what to check, and when made-to-measure is the better answer.
A bee suit that is too small pulls tight when you bend and drags the veil onto your face. One that is too big snags, drags and gapes at the cuffs. Here are the signs of each, and the fix.
Between two bee suit sizes, take the larger one. A slightly big suit still protects you; a slightly small one pulls tight where stings get through. Here is how to handle the awkward cases.
A bee suit should fit loose but not baggy: room to touch your toes and kneel, veil clear of your face, sleeves inside your gloves, legs over your boots. Here is what right looks like, area by area.
Measure over the clothes you wear to the hive, with a soft tape and a helper. Here are the nine measurements we cut suits to, the mistakes that make a suit tight, and what to do with the numbers.
A beekeeping coverall is a bee suit in one-piece form. A disposable coverall is a dust barrier with no veil. Removals are the worst possible place to confuse the two.
The middle layer of a three-layer suit is not padding. It is a spring that holds the outer mesh out of sting range, and it is also the part that quietly wears out.
Polycotton resists tearing and dries fast. Pure cotton breathes better and will not melt near a smoker. One difference decides most of these purchases, and it is not the one listings talk about.
Cotton stops a sting by being thick; ventilated mesh stops it by holding the fabric further away than a sting can reach. Which you need comes down to how many hours you spend at an open hive in the heat.
Heat, bee behavior and being able to see what is crawling on you — three reasons bee suits are white, ranked by how well each one actually holds up, plus an honest look at whether colored suits work.
Full suits cover you ankle to veil; jackets stop at the hips and go on in seconds. Which one you need comes down to your bees, your climate and your experience — here is the decision, with a side-by-side comparison.
