Use Your Bee Veil Without Fail!

How important is it to use a bee veil? Very!

Bees are fascinating insects, and great fun to work with. But do you really want to be eyeball to eyeball with them while you’re trying to examine a hive?

Few beekeepers, professional or amateur, will work their bees without wearing a beekeeper veil (sometimes called a bee mask). Even those who use no other protective equipment will wear a veil. I’ve known beekeepers to work their bees in the heat of the summer wearing only shoes and shorts - no shirt and no gloves. But even those beekeepers who are so very comfortable with their bees will, almost without exception, wear a veil. There’s just no reason not to.

A sting anywhere on the head is much more serious than a sting elsewhere on the body. If you take a sting on your arm or hand and it swells some – no big deal. That same sting (and the swelling that goes with it) on the lip or eye – VERY big deal! And can you imagine getting stung in the ear or in the mouth? Ouch!! But it could happen if you don’t wear a veil.

And if you buy a good veil, there’s really no downside to wearing one. Good veils are very comfortable to wear, and really don’t impede your vision much at all. After you’ve been wearing one for a few minutes you won’t even notice that you’re looking through the mesh of the veil.

Some veils are totally self-contained units that come with their own built-in hat-like support; others are designed to fit over a hat or helmet that must be purchased separately. Just be sure to buy a veil that’s intended to be used with honey bees.

And when you’re putting on your veil and getting ready to work your bees, take the time to make sure that it fits snugly. Speaking from experience, I can assure you that the only thing worse than working with angry bees without a veil, is working with angry bees trapped INSIDE your veil!