Natural Apiary – Apiarist Beekeeping Suit - (All-in-One) - Fencing Veil - Total Protection for Professional and Beginner Beekeepers – 3X Large - White

Will let you know when we can test it out

Great for fighting wasps and hornets, with prep. Protected me against a nest of 100+ European hornets. I have been stung by up to nine yellowjackets (dove into the lake to escape). However, in my old age, even getting stung by a couple can make me a little woozy. I even have an epipen now. But one sting from these creeps was itchy for 2 weeks and left a big hole where I got stung. It was time for some Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).Inevitably, yellowjackets will build a forward operating base in the backyard of my house or lake house and, inevitably, I'll won't see it before they send out the troops. They usually leave a hole to their nest and make it easy to ram one of those foggers down it and it's game over. Well, nature sent out the big boys this time.I was spreading mulch toward dusk and got tagged on the arm. Knowing "that feeling" I took off like a bat outta hell. It swelled up more than I ever had and migrated down my arm. Still hurts. During recon the next day, I found them in one of our many hollow trees (high water table) and was, "What the heck?". They looked like yellowjackets on steroids. Found out they were European hornets. They were a first for me. They're not supposed to be as aggressive as our domestic bald-face (black-and-white) hornets. I will disagree. It's been over a week and it still itches and they have chased me twice. Of course, I did empty a whole, 20-oz can of wasp spray at the opening to no avail.It's war I tell you. On a note, these little lovelies fly at night and are attracted by light, so there is no "safe" time to attack their nest and they are in trees or other places you can't just bomb. Suit required.So I used this suit along with a pair of welders gloves since regular bee gloves wouldn't protect me in this instance (long stingers). Had some welding sleeves to cover the gaps in the gloves and a generous application of 40% DEET where clothing met (gloves and boots). Popped a fogger and held it to the hole when I realized the bottom of the nest opening was right there. So another, 20-oz can of wasp spray and another fogger, if you please.I had at least 25 hornets madder than hell swarming around me and was completely safe. Polyurethane foamed up the slit in the tree and applied a generous amount of boric acid in case they decide to dig through.I will note that the card that comes with this says to register with the website for instructions. There are none, whether you register or not. It would have been helpful though it's mostly intuitive except the elastic loop on the sleeve (I put it on around my pinky). But info on care and cleaning would be nice. Due to hornets, I had to keep the hat well centered since it doesn't completely on its own, so I used a hood (for top and back) with a baseball cap (for the front). I am 5'9" and weigh 185 lb and got an XL to make sure it was baggy and boy was it, but that's okay. I didn't want it stretching tight against me anywhere and it didn't. I'll admit I was nervous going out there to face them, but I made a few trips just to observe until it started getting hot. I will be using this for all my bee fighting events and will offer to do so for my neighbors.

We're into our seventh year of backyard beekeeping. I've been using a Dickies cotton jumpsuit with round hat circular veil which has been fine... until the bees are in a particularly p*****off mood. Last week while working with a queen less hive, the girls were not having it and found their way into my veil (that's fun) and stung my face and neck six times. So yeah, it was time to up my beesuit game. Read lots of reviews and recommendations then decided the Natural Apiary Apiarist was a good fit for my use and budget.The biggest uncertainty was the sizing. Here's my stats:Weight: 181 lbs.Height: 6'Back Length (Collar to Crotch): 30-1/2"Chest: 38-1/2"Waist: 41"Inseam: 30-1/2"Arm Length: 34"The size calculator gave me an "uncertain" or XS, and I knew that was wrong because I usually wear a Large. Conventional wisdom seems to be to buy one size up from normal so I initially purchased an XL. That was definitely swimming on me so I exchanged it for a Large. That fits beautifully, loose enough to fit plenty of clothes underneath and yet still accommodate light clothes in hot weather. I hope my stats and fit will help other shoppers. No barbs at Natural Apiary - it's a hard job to size gear for so many different body shapes.The suit itself is brilliant! I love the construction and the integral fencing veil. It will definitely give me confidence working with upset bees. The velcro closures are well engineered and we didn't see any place for bees to enter. The veil material seems sturdy which is notable because so many other reviewers felt it was flimsy. Perhaps they upgraded the material. Lots of accessible pockets. The suit is definitely cooler than the Dickies all-cotton.The final test will be how sting resistant the polycotton is. I never had a sting through the heavy Dickies cotton suit. I went to visit the girls in it but they are in a happy mood. So I'll know more after the next inspection.

Well made, very easy to get in and out of. Not too hot .

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.