Natural Apiary – Apiarist Beekeeping Suit - (All-in-One) - Fencing Veil - Total Protection for Professional and Beginner Beekeepers – 2X Small - White

I'm just starting out on beekeeping so was looking for a suit that did the job well but wasn't exorbitantly expensive. This suit fits the bill perfectly.The biggest challenge was sizing - they give you so many body measurements to take and some of them seem to conflict with others. So to keep it simple I'm a bog standard British medium; 34" waist, 31" inside leg, I buy jackets for a 42" chest (medium) and the medium sized suit fits perfectly.Well, apart from the cuffs where the elastic was so tight I could barely get my hand through and when I did the blood didn't follow! A bit of unpicking and some new elastic quickly fixed that but if you aren't a dab hand with a needle and thread (or don't know someone who is ;-) ) then this might be a minor problem.Lots of friendly follow-up emails from Natural Apiary about looking after the beesuit.

The item is very good quality material and with lots of pockets which is great. There are only two slight issues. Firstly the sizing - I checked the measurements carefully as described by Amazon and on the Natural Apiary website and at 5'4" I am normally a standard Small size. However this bee suit is at least a Medium compared with my previous one and I have to wear a belt with it as otherwise I have trouble walking - the crotch is so low! The second is that on the flap that covers the top of the zip the velcro goes horizontally and only has two strips with a gap above and the corresponding velcro on the bee suit itself goes vertically, so there is a gap at the top. If they had only put an extra horizontal strip on the flap it would have sealed perfectly - I had a bee manage to get in the first time I wore it as there is a slight gap with the different directions of the velcro and if the zips aren't quite lying correctly (they overlap) it isn't quite as bee proof as my last suit was. Also the main zip going up the front finishes very close to the ones for the hood - it would have been better having that one go higher to clear the ones coming round from the hood. It would also mean that the collar was higher and out of the way as it is very low down - why have a collar anyway as you really don't need it on a bee suit.I hope the above feedback is helpful. All in all though, given that the suits costs about 35% less than the equivalent one from an English company, it is excellent value for money and a very sturdy suit.

I bought this suit to help a local bee keeper remove honey bee hives from the roof of our house. So far we have discovered 5 hives. The suit works very well. I was standing right beside one of the hives while the beekeeper was trying to capture the queen. I was covered from head to toe with angry bees and was not stung once. It was a little disconcerting have them buzzing angrily near my head. I bought the XXL size as I thought it was best to have the suit baggy. I have not tried washing the suit yet. The beekeeper was very impressed with the quality of the suit I bought (he helped me seal it up). I would certainly recommend this suit and would not hesitate to buy items from this company again.

Really disappointedYesterday I wore my suit for the first time, I got stung through the suit on my arm but more was to come ... I then became aware of buzzing in side the suit around my head, bees were in the hood!!After releasing the bees from hood and approx 6 stings later.The two experienced beekeeper went over my suit again looking as to how this had happened. They found the zip tapes didn’t sit flush together so there was an entrance hole, the Velcro covering the hood zip seems to small. As you can see from the photo the zip tape is off centre and the Velcro not adequate.

Meant order an XL but accidentally ordered 3XL. Actually pleased because it's nice and baggy which is comfy. It's got reasonably thick fabric, not the thickest but still pretty good. The zips could do with bigger tabs because they're quite fiddly - I put some key rings on mine.The flap that covers the zip under the chin doesn't seem to make a good seal but no bees have got under it so I guess it's ok.For the price it's a bargain.