BB Wear Ultra - Field Test

Hi, I'm Laurence Edwards from Black Mountain Honey. Welcome to another episode of No Nonsense Beekeeping. We are at the Valley Apiary today and we're going to take a look and do a field test for the BB Wear Ultra Ventilated Bee Suit. So as you see, I've done a previous review, a bit of an unboxing and talking about the technical features. I just wanted to get out to an apiary today put the suit on. I've come prepared in nice shorts and white legs and white arms to kind of give it a real thorough field test and just to get a kind of feel for how the air moves through the suit and just give you kind of like a real hands-on feel as to how the suit performs actually in an apiary. So it's about 14 degrees today, still not a huge amount of movement on the bees, like it's dipped down in terms of temperature from the last couple of days, but the bees will come out as soon as I start going in to take a look at them. So we'll get the suit on and then we'll continue from there. So as I discussed before, one of the real key features I like about this suit is the fact that the legs have got the zips on. A lot of suits do that, but it just makes it really, really easy to kind of put it on over your wellies. So there we go, I've got the suit on and it's, it's just quite remarkable. Like, it just doesn't kind of feel like you're really wearing anything. Obviously you're aware that it's on But that breeze just comes straight through. Like, if anything, I'm probably a bit cold, so I might wear a longer t-shirt with this one next time. But it bodes really well kind of for in the, the hotter months, and especially when I'm kind of getting in and out of the car, like, I need something to keep me cool. So it bodes really, really well. So we'll open up a couple of colonies and just see how they react. So we'll take a look inside this colony. I'm not going to use any smoke because I want to kind of test and see how sting-proof this So I've got my wellies on, I've got my gloves on, everything zipped up, and we'll see how we go. It's very nice and cool though, there's a lovely breeze. I feel really, really comfortable, um, and normally even kind of just putting all of the gear on, I don't feel comfortable, I feel too warm. So, so we've got a nice-sized colony here. They're over 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, about 6 frames. Um, it's relatively cool. Like I say, I'm not using any smoke. I almost kind of want to see if they're going to be able to sting through this fabric. Nice amount of stores left still in this. Nice amount of pollen in some of these frames. Not seeing that across a lot of colonies at the moment. So if you can see there, got a really nice amount of pollen still on the outer frames. This is good, this is a good sign, and it means the colonies will build up really well. If you want to have a go at spotting the queen, she's on that frame as well. She was marked. I don't think she's marked anymore. You see her? She's just there. Bees getting a little bit agitated there. Yeah. I've not received a single sting yet. It feels really unnerving, this suit. It feels like I'm not protected, um, but I haven't received a sting yet. I've noticed a couple of them trying to sting me. Um, the veil's really good, it's really clear. Very happy with it so far, not a single sting. Again, these are the kind of outer frames that you should be expecting this time of year. That's a nice healthy outer frame, good amount of stores. You can see a bit of fondant's kind of come through, but that's fine. Really, really good amount of pollen. That's what we like to see this time of year. The bees can get out, they can bring the pollen in. That's what they need for their early expansion. So that's what you should be checking for in your colonies, obviously when the temperature allows it. Make sure there's enough pollen in there. That's what's going to give you the early brood rearing. So not much brood, do you know what I mean? We've got some brood on there, only one frame with brood on, but there's a decent amount of bees on it. There's kind of brood in all stages. There's eggs, there's capped There's a laying queen. Really happy with this colony and really happy with the suit. So I've closed them up again now. It's only a really, really quick inspection. I'm not out here just to review the suit. I'm out here doing a check on all the colonies. It's really important this time of year to make sure your colonies have got enough stores. This is the time of year I find that they can starve. And that's the most frustrating thing. When you get a colony that dwindles and dies because of X, Y, or Z, it's sometimes out of your hands. What is in your hands is making sure they've got enough stores to get them through the cold winter months and sometimes the lean spring months into when the flows are available. So don't let your big colonies die now. Bit of word of advice for you. You probably see the BBKA putting out their emails now saying that you need to go out and check, make sure the stores are there. So that's what we're doing today. I just thought it'd be a kind of a useful time for me to get the suit on for the first time, give it a bit of a trial run. And I have to say, I'm really, really happy with it. Not a single sting. I remain really, really cool. I know when I kind of travel in between, uh, apiaries within my car as well, I'm going to remain cool. I don't need to mess around with 10 liters of water for every trip. So I'm, I'm over the moon with it. Just kind of wanted to get into the field, give it a bit of a test, and let you know how it's going. So that's it. I've inspected 25 hives, lost 2 of them. One to Nosema, one's dwindled away. The other 23 are looking good. They're building up, they're bringing in pollen, and they're expanding. But more importantly, the suit has worked perfectly. Like, I'm so much cooler. I remember kind of getting to this point using my old suit, and I'd just be so sweaty. And as you can see, I've still got completely dry hair. So I'm going to do a comparison video later on in the year, just showing you kind of— I'll do a full inspection in my old full suit And then I'll do kind of a comparison video with me in this. Like, I feel fresh, um, and I think the thing that's keeping me warm still in this is the fact that I've got a t-shirt on underneath. So next time I might even take the t-shirt off as well, keep me a little bit cooler again. But it's worked really, really well. It's kept me cool. I've not been stung, so it doesn't get much better than that. I'll do further updates throughout the season. This is going to be my go-to bee suit now, so any questions you've got about it, let me know and I'll answer them as best as I possibly can. And obviously James down at BBWare can answer your questions as well, so just give him a shout. I hope you've enjoyed the videos. Please hit the subscribe button, please hit the bell, and I'll see you next time. Bye.