Choosing the right clothing when working with your bees is an aspect of beekeeping that many beginners neglect to give enough attention to. Protecting yourself from the bees is one consideration for your beekeeping suit, but comfort is another aspect that should be considered. Ventilated pants offer protection and comfort while working with your bees.
The best ventilated beekeeping pants are made from a 3-layers mesh material that offers resistance to beestings while promoting airflow in the bee suit. The mesh material is lightweight, increasing mobility for the beekeeper. Ventilated beekeeping pants are not 100% sting proof.
Ventilated pants for beekeeping are a sensible clothing choice when you need to spend a lot of time harvesting honey or performing maintenance at your hives. Ventilated beekeeping pants will keep you protected and cool so you can concentrate on the work without distraction.
Top Ventilated Pants For Beekeeping
The peak season for beekeepers is spring and summer when the temperatures are rising, and beekeeping can become uncomfortable.
The right beekeeping equipment, including the protective clothing you use while working with your bees, is crucial.
Many beginner beekeepers only consider the protective factor when choosing beekeeping clothing, when comfort should also factor into the equation, particularly if your spring and summer months have high temperatures.
Once you have endured a few hours working on your beehives in the summer heat, you will wish that you considered the comfort factor as well.
Ventilated bee suit clothing helps to reduce the heat discomfort when working with bees since it allows airflow through the suit to keep the beekeeper cooler than other materials.
Many beekeepers prefer to wear only a jacket for beekeeping and wear a pair of jeans or other thick material pants when working their bees.
Beekeeping can be a dirty, messy job, and the clothes you wear will suffer and become unsuitable for any other function other than beekeeping. For this reason, I prefer to have a dedicated bee suit, both pants, and a top, which are my beekeeping clothes.
Wearing ventilated pants for beekeeping is cooler than wearing a thick pair of jeans in the heat of summer!
If you agree that you would prefer to work in lighter, cooler clothing while doing your beekeeping, then you will find our selection of the best ventilated beekeeping pants worthwhile.
OZ ARMOUR Beekeeping Ventilated Pants
Oz Armour is an Australian brand of beekeeping clothing that produces a range of beekeeping protective clothing, including ventilated pants.
The Oz Armour Ventilates Beekeeping Pants are made with a 3-layer mesh fabric that prevents beestings while allowing air into the clothing, keeping you cool while you work.
The 3 layers in the mesh provide a reduced risk of the bees being able to sting through the material and is also lightweight material. The lighter weight of the material and the airflow provided by the mesh make for a much cooler working environment for the beekeeper.
Some innovative design features on these ventilated pants are convenient and make them easy to wear. The pants have long zippers on the outside of each leg that allow you to put the pants on easily, even if you already have your boots on your feet.
The zippers are heavy-duty, durable YKK zippers with Velcro closures over the zip tabs at the ankles to stop the zippers from opening when you move.
The pants have elasticated cuffs at the bottom and a loop that can be fitted under your foot or boots to prevent the pants from pulling up as you move around.
Forest Beekeeping Raw Canvas Cotton Beekeeper
If layered mesh beekeeping pants are not what you are looking for in your beekeeping wardrobe, then the next best beekeeping option is to select pants made from a breathable material.
The Forest Beekeeping Supply Raw Canvas Cotton Pants are our recommendation if you need an extra level of protection.
These beekeeping pants by Forest Beekeeping Supply are made from a tough, durable 100% cotton canvas. This material provides better protection against bee stings and is easy to wash. The material is breathable, which allows moisture to evaporate from your body to reduce heat.
The pants feature a hive tool pocket on the side of each leg and two front pockets with Velcro closures to keep the bees out.
The bottom of the pants has a 13-inch or 33cm long zipper to allow easy putting on and removal of the pants. The waistband of these beekeeping pants is elasticated and includes a drawstring closure as well to ensure the bees stay on the outside of the pants.
These pants are a suitable alternative for beekeepers who work in rough conditions or have to deal with particularly aggressive bees.
Can Bees Sting Through Ventilated Beekeeping Pants?
No bee suit is 100% sting-proof, whether a ventilated or solid material suit. The biggest problem with bee suits is where the material pulls taut over your skin as you move or bend in the course of working on your bee hives.
Ventilated bee suit pants use a 3-layer mesh material, consisting of thicker mesh material with larger holes and a layer of thinner mesh with smaller holes on each side, making up the 3 layers.
The mesh materials are layered in a hash pattern, so the holes do not line up directly over one another, making the material sting resistant.
Sting resistant is not sting-proof, and the bees may be able to position their stinger just right to be able to penetrate the material, especially where it pulls tight on your skin, such as over your knees or your rear end when you bend over.
However, this problem is the same with all bee suits; you can expect to get a sting or two in any bee suit, depending on the bees’ aggressiveness or the invasiveness of the beekeeping operation you are undertaking.
In my experience, a ventilated bee suit or ventilated pants are a great option when working with milder-mannered bees, but I prefer the protection of solid material for aggressive swarms or invasive procedures.
Is A Full Bee Suit Better Than Pants And A jacket?
As you gain experience as a beekeeper and get to know your bees, you will develop a preference for a particular type of bee suit.
Some beekeepers prefer a full bee suite because there are fewer openings where the bees can potentially gain access to the suit. However, the full suit is more restrictive of movement and has more potential for the suit to pull tight against your skin as you move around the hive.
A jacket and pants bee suit combination provides more freedom of movement with less potential for the suit to pull tight on pivot points on your body.
The downside of this combination is that there are more access points on the suit that must be properly secured to keep the bees out of the suit.
The suit that best meets your beekeeping needs is something you would need to determine after figuring out your comfort and protection level requirements.
Conclusion
Ventilated beekeeping pants are a cooler option for working bees in the heat of summer. The mesh material offers resistance to stings while allowing air to circulate close to your body in the suit. Mesh suits are less resistant to stings than solid fabric suits.
The mesh material is also lightweight, which is easier to wear in the heat than bee suits made from heavy materials. Choose your bee protection carefully, weighing the protection and comfort factors to find the right balance for your beekeeping activities!
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