Notes on gear
Sunday April 1st 2012The Salish bees are just jamming away this summer, its clear they are happy little honeybees who have plenty of work to do on the lodge grounds, pollinating, spreading joy and whipping up that sweet Salish Honey. There's a new batch of pics taken just yesterday of the girls doing what they do, click the photo icon and check em out, they are in the folder named: July.
I switched out some of the beekeeping garb last week, I have been using Carhartt bibs for most of the hive checks because the sheer utilitarian advantages of the gear itself works so well but the major downside is I consistently get a honeybee up the pant leg because they are cut so wide. You can imagine once the bee gets up there, she gets upset and it doesn't end well for her or me so I have been looking for a new set of diggers. I need something that eliminates the wide leg/cuff, have more breath-ability and at the same time serve a somewhat equal utilitarian purpose. I finally found the right pair last week, at Sears of course: the Carhartt Carpenter pants are 100% cotton, coarse enough to defend from exterior stings but light enough to keep the beekeeper cool. They are also gray with visible, white stitching, giving them an old school look...I'm no fashionista (or am i?) but I really cant quit raving about these work pants.
Ive been reading alot of forums and articles about what the beeman or woman should or shouldn't wear, the debate is fast, as usual everyone has their own idea, unwaveringly. At the end of the day its personal, what you wear but I have to be protected, I get stung ALOT, this week I got stung just below the eye, last week 5 bees hammered me hard on the legs and shoulder. I am mildly allergic so I swell up pretty good with each sting, my hands are always protected, I worry about them the most because of what I do for a living in my other life as a corporate manager. Presentation is key in my world, the handshake means everything right alongside eye contact, if I cant shake a hand or my eye is swollen shut, it isn't the best I can do so for me it doesn't work. Were I a full time beekeeper without such a significant job elsewhere I would ditch the gloves and tend bees with just a veil. Here's me at work: (note the honeybee cufflinks)
Comments
Makendra - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 @ 3:02 PM
This atrcile went ahead and made my day.
Tilly - Friday, July 29, 2011 @ 10:39 AM
This information is off the hziool!
Lilly - Thursday, July 28, 2011 @ 11:59 PM
Extremely helpful arictle, please write more.