When it comes to protective clothing everyone has their own opinions on what is best and what should be avoided, full suit, jacket, veil, yes or no gloves, its just personal preference so I’m just going to define what each one is and their pros and cons.
Full Suits – These cover you from head to foot, all you need are shoes and gloves to be completely covered. Pros – It is near impossible to be stung in a full suit (with shoes and gloves) which is very helpful when you find that one mean hive. Cons – Since you are completely covered and in the sun you will get hot very fast. Tip: If you decide to get a full suit get on that is made out of mesh fabric, this will ventilate your suit better than a cloth suit will while still protecting you the same.
Jackets – These cover you from head to waist. If you get in a mean hive while wearing a jacket, thick jeans, lace-up boots, and gloves (gloves are optional) will be about the same level of protection as a full suit offers. Pros – Doesn’t take as long as a full suit takes to get on. You also can wear shorts with a jacket to help you not get too hot. Cons – Takes more extra equipment to be safe around mean hives, and if you use the extra equipment (jeans and lace-up boots) you will get more hot than in a full suit.
Veils – These cover your head and neck while preventing bees from climbing through the neck hole in your shirt. Pros – Very fast to get on and there isn’t any difference in temperature between that and wearing a sun hat in the sun. Cons – Can be difficult to learn how to correctly wear one and if used incorrectly bees will be able to get to your face (which isn’t fun, trust me). It also takes practice to get used to having so little protection around stinging insects.
Then concerning gloves: there are two main types of gloves, leather beekeeping gloves, and disposable rubber gloves.
Leather beekeeping gloves – These are made of leather around your hands and fabric from your wrist to halfway up your forearms, this allows you to tuck in the sleeves of a full suit or jacket (some newer versions aren’t leather and are completely fabric. Pros – While no glove completely keeps out stings these gloves keep out almost all. Cons – After a while you have to replace them because they get too sticky, and they aren’t cheap compared to disposable rubber gloves. Also, it is really hard to feel anything outside of the gloves which means you will accidentally squish some bees.
Disposable rubber gloves – If you get these you want to find some that are thick enough that they don’t pull apart when they get stuck on things like Propolis. Pros – Cheaper than the leather gloves. You can also feel the bees and won’t squish them. They can also be used to keep your hands cleaner while Extracting. Cons – Stings go right through these, and if you get a thinner type of glove they will pull apart.