bj sheriff or bbwear

bb wear lovley suit doesnt get to hot got the dark green one with hat and rings (old school lol)

Id say that which ever brand you choose, get white! ( easy to see bees on it)

we have BeesOnline - good quality and ours have a strap for around thumb to make sure sleeve doesn't ride up.

Nic Rhodes said:

I currently use a lightweight Sheriff but they don't seem to do that anymore (but BB Wear does!). ...

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seems they do, it is an S66 Beekeeper but £176.32

Spam removed until proven otherwise..

Admin.

Nic Rhodes said:

I have been going through this myself recently also and would be interested in everyones comments.I am thinking about two suits, one for my bees and one for visits elsewhere. I currently use a lightweight Sheriff but they don't seem to do that anymore (but BB Wear does!). I am struggling to find out small details like is there a hook to hang a suit up or how well do they work with Nitriles. Suits 10 years ago were all designed for leather gauntlets, however many nowdays no longer use these but suits don't seem to changed designs to keep up. You need to buy separate extra gauntlets on top! Currently considering a BB Wear BB1 and BB101 as the favourite for top quality without a huge premium. Howver I might wait unil the honey show to see them all in the flesh...

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is that the Fencer or the astranought ?

tonybloke said:

Id say that which ever brand you choose, get white! ( easy to see bees on it)

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- unless you need to avoid alerting thieves/hostile neighbours then white is good - you can see any lurking stingers, and easily check whether it's really clean.

I have a Ma*semore suit with an old-style hat and good, thick cotton around the neck, and I have to say that for the mid-range price I can't fault it. I also have a more lightweight jacket - cheap from Th*rnes - which is OK but frankly doesn't cut it if the bees are in a temper.

I was tempted by the pricier bee suits, but drew the line at the incredible cost.

I wish I still had some of my Grandad's old boiler suits. He was actually a boiler inspector (for an insurance company - in the days of steam traction engines on farms!!) and had literal boiler suits which were tan in colour and would have made good bee suits with the addition of a veil.

jezd said:

bbwear are useless in their communications, pain in the backside IMHO

sheriff cant be faulted

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But the gear is good. I particularly like sage.

Mine Bb wear, brilliant suit, plenty of pockets, very secure. Daughter had to go down to be measured for a 'for beeginners suit' and it was made to measure. Great service.

Bob Bee said:

is that the Fencer or the astranought ?

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Edit: Brain engaged. Fencer.

I have both and always seem to wear the BB suit.

Nic Rhodes said:

Edit: Brain engaged. Fencer.

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Hi Nic,
Your signature? What have I missed? I avoid Tesco if at all possible anyway but why for sugar for bees? Please:.)

colinlee said:

hi ,

ring Patrick at Bee Basic
you wont pay over the odds..

colin

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Iv had a bee basic for two years and will not be getting another the vail has split the seams have come apart and the zip has broken ill be investing in a bb wear one

justme said:

Hi Nic,
Your signature? What have I missed? I avoid Tesco if at all possible anyway but why for sugar for bees? Please:.)

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Tescos performed to it's usual high standard, unhelpful, rude, unhelpful, didn't listen, didn't do anything, didn't answer any questions and a brilliant display of incompetence like of which the world has never seen. The right hand in Tesco tower just didn't know what the left was doing. Their service was quite abysmal from simple questions I asked. It wasn't really about the money, 30% increase on my order in 2 days was the original question, but more how they they treated people.

jezd said:

bbwear are useless in their communications, pain in the backside IMHO

sheriff cant be faulted

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How strange I had the opposite experience and as I live close went to BB to get my suit. Couldnt have been more helpful and I would certainly recommend.
S

Careful with your hive tool

I have total confidence in my BBwear suit. I recently faced a truly vicious colony (not mine) & took 57 stings round the frame of the hood but nothing got through the suit. When buying I was advised to have a medium even though I am 5'2" so that the suit does not pull tight when bending over - no prizes in a fashion show but no stings either.
I do find that the fencer hood flops too far forward & I always seem to have the hoop in my line of vision. I have solved this by wearing a baseball cap back to front.
One word of warning - like many others I guess, I use the long leg pockets for my hive tools. I realised recently that the sharp end had cut the fabric of the leg inside both pockets. One gash, an inch long was near the top of the pocket & would have been quite inviting for an inquisitive bee.

This has been very timely, I live very close to both suppliers and one is exhibiting at an event I'm attending this Saturday. Hopefully I'll be able to examine both first hand, at these prices this should be a long term investment and last a considerable time. I'll do a friendliness/quality/price comparison next week.

My 2 BB suits both have hive tool pocket failure.
It's not because the tool has cut the fabric, just the stitching at the critical point is weak - needs more backtacking or perhaps a Levi style stud.

I'm sure BB will sort this out for me, they are always helpful.

Pockets? Why on earth do you want pockets?

Useless on a bee suit and a weak point to let bees get closer to you than they should.

I used to buy from Sherrifs, and then was told their new one (at the time) hmm bees cannot get a grip on it... lol, rubbish.

I bought from Poland this year, half the price just as good quality so I am £'s in.

PH

I'm not sure why you actually need to buy full suits.
Get yourself a bee farmer veil from Sherriff (top quality, only fools go cheap with veils) which goes under your overall which you buy from a proper tradesman's shop where they go away and make it to your size. Mine cost me £50 and is very thick and full of very handy pockets

Result, top quality and safe suit at half the price