How do I care for my bee suit?
When it's time to tend to your apiaries it's also time to check over all your beekeeping equipment.
Aside from ensuring you have the best hive equipment, it's also essential that you have all the appropriate safety gear which will assist in making your beekeeping season a great one, and a safe one.
Flow Hive technology drastically reduces the chance of being stung during harvest, however, even the friendliest hive can become unsettled sometimes.
So, whether you are checking your brood frames, harvesting some honey, or just hanging out with your girls, it’s good practice to always wear your protective clothing.
If you do not yet have a beekeeping suit, we have plenty of options available to get you beekeeping in style and confidence – you can find our bee suit options here.
A Flow Bee Veil is also the perfect accessory for doing minor chores around your hives.
How to keep your bee suit working effectively
Beekeeping suits, jackets and gloves are valuable pieces of safety equipment. If you maintain them well and treat them with care, they can offer you long-lasting and functional sting prevention.
It’s important to remember that your protective wear is not indestructible, so we thought we’d share a couple of our basic tips on how to care for your kit to make sure it's durable and provides you with the best possible ongoing protection.
Inspect your suit often
We recommend that you inspect your safety gear every single time you go to suit up. Check for weaknesses in the seams, tears, rips or holes, or any areas that show signs of weakness.
Bees are very clever when it comes to finding small spaces to crawl through so we suggest you always take particular care when inspecting your veil.
Check for bee-sized gaps
Once you have your gear on, check for any gaps or spaces that a bee could squeeze through – ensure your zippers are done up tight!
Your veil is designed to sit forward and away from your face. Make sure your skin isn’t touching your veil – remember, although it’s unlikely, bees can sting through fabric.
Storing
When not in use, carefully store your suit (hanging it up is optimal), avoid contact with sharp objects. Don’t store it under heavy items and try to keep it away from any fabric-eating insects.
Cleaning your veil, suit or gloves
If you feel your beekeeper's suit needs a clean (though most beekeepers we know are happy for them to get quite dirty!), be sure to follow the washing instructions carefully:
Washing Instructions for Bee Suits
- Bee Veil and Hood: Hand wash only. Hang to dry in the shade. Do not tumble dry.
- Suit: Remove veil from suit for machine washing in cold water. Our Organic Cotton suit can be tumble dried on low, however, we recommend to air-dry in the shade. All Mesh suits, do not tumble dry. Do not use bleach.
- Gloves: Hand wash in cold water. Hang to dry in shade. Do not tumble dry. Do not use bleach.