# Footwear Do's and Don'ts:



## RiodeLobo (Oct 11, 2010)

I use 11 inch hiking boots, and my ultra breeze suit has the elastic bands in the ankle. I have never had a bee make it inside the suit so far. Personally I like to have the pants on the outside and cinched tight over the boot, not on the inside. I have used the mud boots, but I think the hiking boots are more comfortable. 

Welcome to beekeeping,
Dan Hayden


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## MichaBees (Sep 26, 2010)

I work my africanized and normal hives with sandals. Bees do not seem to; 
1). Like my feet odor, or
2) Care to atack my feet.


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## RiodeLobo (Oct 11, 2010)

Well I will always have a vivid memory of quickly walking away from my hives and dropping trow in order to release a agitated bee from a very delicate area. In front of a laughing crowd of relatives.

After that I always sealed my pants at the ankles.
Dan Hayden


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## Beeophyte (Oct 17, 2011)

Good story Dan, I always like the ones with a moral.


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## Monie (Feb 13, 2008)

I tried the sandal thing. Not good if your toes aren't sensitive enough to feel your girls between them. Several stings between the old toes cured me of that. 

Later in the season, as your hives build and you get more bees on the ground, you might want to invest in some duct tape, too, to tape your pants to your boots. A few stings right on the fanny, because some girls crawled up my pant leg, cured me of leaving pant legs open.


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## Beev (Jul 16, 2011)

I just wear my daily work boots with jeans on the outside, and a fat rubber band on top to keep out unwanted guests.


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## Bsweet (Apr 9, 2010)

I wear my work boots,as of yet I have not had a bee go up my pants leg(while working my hives) but guess after one or two I would start blousing them or taping them down. But I always tape them down for cutouts or to set up a trap out. Jim


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## fish_stix (May 17, 2009)

Sneakers! That way you can run like the wind away from AHB hives.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Beeophyte said:


> I was thinking about just using my old desert combat boots.
> 
> Jon


I have a pair of those which I own because my Son no longer needs them. I don't tuck them in or band them. I also often just wear sneakers when working my 500 colonies. But, when loading and unloading trucks or taking off honey, I like to wear boots. Either the ones you mentioned or some other similar type.


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## Paul McCarty (Mar 30, 2011)

I have not had the bees take much interest in my feet. They seem to go for the face. I think as long as the ankles are sealed and the skin is covered, you will be OK.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

I hardly worry much about my legs or ankles, but, further up? That's another story. If you ever see me unzip my fly in the middle of a bee yard, you can guess why.

I wanna see a show of hands, how many of y'all have ever done the Beekeepers Jig? Vocals included? I have, I have.


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## hpm08161947 (May 16, 2009)

Now that she is retired, my wife really likes to go out and help with the bees. Being an old country girl, she is really good help. But she always wears pants that are too flimsy. The other day she had a bunch of bees head north from her pants leg. First time I ever saw anyone drop trough in beeyard.... guess it's good that our yards are very isolated.

Bet I get in trouble for telling this story.


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## Duboisi (Oct 7, 2009)

I had one bee crawling into my rain-boots that I prefer to use with bees.

It was a young and pretty furry bee that I felt crawling down there. I carefully stepped out of the boot and could brush her off. Not sure it would have ended the same way if it was an older and more defensive forager/guard bee.


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## Gypsi (Mar 27, 2011)

hpm08161947 said:


> Bet I get in trouble for telling this story.


Bet you do!

I usually wear tennis shoes with my suit, but if I am expecting angry bees, I wear my cowboy boots, heavy leather pointed toe ****roach stompers, with the elastic legs of my suit OUTSIDE the top of the boot. 

So far I haven't done the beekeeper's jig. Been stung in the hand twice, head twice. No suit except for the last hand sting (wrong gloves - black suede - very very wrong gloves, but the stinger BARELY penetrated my skin)

Gypsi


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## berkshire bee (Jan 28, 2007)

Not wanting to overdress on hot days (which is usually when you are working on hives) I've worn sandals many times (don't recommend) old army boots with the zipper on the side if it's muddy, and sneakers most of the time. When I work on my backyard hives, I'm often barefoot.
Yes a few bees get up my pants legs and sting, but I prefer that over sweating to death.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Our standard "dress code" is 8" lace up boots. By not using the top two loops it frees up enough length in your boot laces to tie your pant legs when the bees are crawly and/or the grass is tall enough for chiggers to be a threat. I fear those little ticking time bombs a lot more than an occasional bee crawling up my leg.


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## jrbbees (Apr 4, 2010)

I like the pants leg in the boot. That way the crawler come over the top of the boot on to the pants and not in them.


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## Adrian Quiney WI (Sep 14, 2007)

Batting a swarm out of a tree taught me not to wear black socks. I wear galosh type boots to make it tougher for ticks to access my pants. I find the bees are more interested in head butting than going for the feet, and I think that as a beekeeper becomes more experienced and spends less time at each hive there are fewer encounters with crawling bees as the hive is open for less time.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

sqkcrk said:


> I hardly worry much about my legs or ankles, but, further up? That's another story. If you ever see me unzip my fly in the middle of a bee yard, you can guess why.
> 
> I wanna see a show of hands, how many of y'all have ever done the Beekeepers Jig? Vocals included? I have, I have.


Briefs not boxers for bee work.


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## Monkadelic (Feb 5, 2010)

I learned yesterday that stings will not penetrate Doc Martens boots! That makes me think that combat boots would be very suitable.


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## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

Sandals for me, but I usually make the fashion faux pas of wearing white gym socks with them. So far, the bees seem totally uninterested in my feet. I also dont worry about the bee up the pants leg (or higher) thing. The elastic leg cuffs of my bee suit are still really strong. My hands and the gap between my short gloves and the wrist cuffs is where the problems occur.


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## Katharina (May 2, 2011)

I live in a cooler climate so I dress up a little bit more naturally. Plus I have low blow pressure so I freeze a lot too. For beekeeping I use an old pair of hiking boots, that just go up over the ankle. I like them because they support my feet on the uneven terrain. I wear sweat pants and just tuck them into the boot. I would not put it over the boots, because bees crawl up and not down. On quick work I sometimes do wear slip on shoes and never had an issue. Boots are a must when I do move deeps for inspections, that is when you can expect some bees on the ground. I wear a 5 dollar sweater from Walmart, but home made veil over a large rim hat, and kitchen gloves. Was worked well for me and I do not own a bee suit.


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## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

The very first time I visited my hives I wore knee-high rubber boots with pant legs tucked in and several layers of duct tape applied about the knee to close the gap between pants and boot. Serious overkill, but if you dont want to get stung in the feet or have bees crawling up your legs, I can all but gaurantee that it will work.


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## Paul McCarty (Mar 30, 2011)

Monkadelic said:


> I learned yesterday that stings will not penetrate Doc Martens boots! That makes me think that combat boots would be very suitable.


Glad to see someone else wearing Doc's while doing bees. I wear my Doc Marten shoes with no problem, just make sure I have on thick socks.


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## StevenG (Mar 27, 2009)

Boots, jeans, duct tape.


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## Monkadelic (Feb 5, 2010)

Paul, yeah... Docs with no socks can be uncomfortable. The tag is really itchy. I love my old (13 years old, I think) boots, and they are darn near water tight. Plus in the all-white bee suit, a pair of purplish Docs makes me a feel a bit more fashionable


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## dragonfly (Jun 18, 2002)

I wear tall rubber boots with my pants tucked in and duct tape at the top to seal the boots, but my bees are hot, so I don't take chances.


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## Stephen (Mar 2, 2011)

Not many things I don't do in sandals during the spring, summer, and fall. Including beekeeping. Occasionally I'll go barefoot but it gets a bit "fowl" when the chickens are out.


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## Risky Beesness (Dec 29, 2010)

Lace up boots, shorts, t-shirt, and Ultrabreeze suit. Water soaked head to toe in the summer.


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## DixieLee (Nov 1, 2011)

Me too! I actually think a friend of mine may have pictures! A not too pretty but funny sight!


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## guyross (Feb 18, 2011)

Its distracting to have a bee fly up my pant legs not to mention others seeing me shaking my leg while I hold a frame of bees. I got some long Velcro ties used to organize wires to put around my ankles. I have worn flip flops and they don't seem interested in my feet. Maybe its the odor.


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## RiodeLobo (Oct 11, 2010)

sqkcrk said:


> I wanna see a show of hands, how many of y'all have ever done the Beekeepers Jig? Vocals included? I have, I have.


I have, I have.
With an audience:banana:
:gh:


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## BeeGhost (May 7, 2011)

If im just checking the bees quickly I wear shorts and flip flops with a long sleeve white shirt and viel. If I am doing something other than that I wear my work boots, jeans and inspectors jacket/veil combo. I have had a bee crawl up through my shorts, felt it and slowly back away from the hive and pinched the bee inside my shorts..........one bee down but I have plenty more!!

My bee gloves were chewed up by a **** rat, so I used light blue latex gloves and the bees dont seem to mind them at all, will use those from now on!! I wish they made the needle proof gloves in another color other than black, that would be awesome!!


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## Duboisi (Oct 7, 2009)

BeeGhost said:


> If im just checking the bees quickly I wear shorts and flip flops with a long sleeve white shirt and viel. If I am doing something other than that I wear my work boots, jeans and inspectors jacket/veil combo. I have had a bee crawl up through my shorts, felt it and slowly back away from the hive and pinched the bee inside my shorts..........one bee down but I have plenty more!!
> 
> My bee gloves were chewed up by a **** rat, so I used light blue latex gloves and the bees dont seem to mind them at all, will use those from now on!! I wish they made the needle proof gloves in another color other than black, that would be awesome!!


If you think of nitril gloves, they come in many different colours. I think they all have higher puncture resistance than latex. (IOW that it's one of the properties of nitrile, no matter what application it's used for.)

BTW: I thought that blue was the "signature" color of nitrile gloves, as I had only seen blue ones until I did this search.


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## greif (Nov 9, 2010)

I started with 2 hives in spring and at first worked with no protection... no problem. well after about 6 weeks one of the hives must have had the new broad from new queen coming out and boy are they mean! just take the telescoping and inner cover off bam attack, attack. well I had been wearing full suit but old sneaker that had holes in........ suprizing how many can fly/ crawl in those holes that fast... ouch

well if they survive winter they are getting new queens


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## honeyshack (Jan 6, 2008)

Steel toe work boots, and if it is wet out from rain or melted snow, rubber boots. Prefer the work boots though. Nothing like a good fitting boot to protect the feet from falling objects....like full a full honey super, or heavy brood chamber.


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