Beige Poly Cotton Beekeeper Suit without Veil

01 · THE VEIL IS SEPARATE

The coverall alone is not full kit

This garment covers the body and closes at cuffs and waist, but the veil is bought separately. Without it there is no protection for face or neck — exactly where a sting hurts and frightens most.

The kit is completed with veil, gloves and high boots. And as with any suit, this one included: the fabric protects, but pressed against the skin a sting gets through. Shoulders, back and knees when you crouch are the usual places.

02 · THE SIZE

The number is half your chest in centimetres

European workwear sizing runs by number and, as a guide, it works out at roughly half the chest circumference in centimetres: someone measuring 100 cm around the chest is usually a 50, and 120 cm a 60.

There are twelve sizes here, from 48 to 70, which is an unusually full range and covers the large end. One tip: if you will be wearing a jumper underneath for February inspections, take one size up.

03 · WHAT CLOSES

Double-slider zip and ribbed cuffs

The closure is asymmetric with a double slider: it also opens from the bottom, which is what lets you vent or reach a trouser pocket without half undressing in the middle of the apiary.

The ribbed cuffs grip without elastic that goes slack, the waistband is elasticated and the raglan sleeve lets you raise your arms to lift a super without the coverall pulling at the shoulder. Every seam is double-stitched.

04 · THE POCKETS

Five, one of them on the leg

It has a chest pocket with a zip — the only one that does not empty itself when you bend — two lower patch pockets, one at the back and one for the hive tool on the right leg.

That last one is the one you notice: the hive tool stops living on the hive roof and turning up three colonies further along.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

It is the coverall, and only the coverall: