Dear reader (and my future self),
Earlier this week I decided it was time to clean my bee suit. Well, actually I had decided that long ago, but I had put it off until this week when I got honey all over my gloves and sleeves. We were moving a hive from a shed wall to a box, but that is another story.
I had read articles from a few different beekeepers that you need to hand wash your suit, so I cleaned out the kitchen sink and filled it with soapy, warm water. The hood barely fit in the sink and the jacket was so big that the soap suds flew out as I shoved it all into the water. Luckily, Coach, KB and Pickle were not in the room to witness my near defeat. I rubbed the fabric against its self to try and clean the dirt off, and then tried to rinse the jacket in running water. This was also close to a disaster, but in the end I conquered.
The gloves were easier to clean, but I was concerned that submerging them in water might ruin them, or make them less protective. I googled what would happen to leather if it gets wet, and many articles give you little hope if this happens, but a few mentioned using a balm or conditioner to soften the leather if it had been wet. I found a leather balm recipe on a few different sites, but they seem to all trace back to Humblebee and Me.
The recipe I used was 1:1:2 ratio with:
- 25g beeswax
- 25g cocoa butter
- 50g liquid oil ( I used sweet almond oil)
I measure out each and put it all in medium saucepan. Then heated on medium until it is melted and blended together. At this point, I remove from heat and pour into a metal container. Most sites recommend a jar, but I am storing it in an old horse shed and I was concerned the glass might get broken. After setting for 30 minutes it became hard and usable. It actually became very hard after it cooled, but it still worked. While my gloves were still a little damp, I rubbed the balm all over the leather parts of the glove. I actually did this twice because I was worried I did not cover every crack and crease. The next morning my gloves were soft and flexible when I put them on.
(After further research, I think I will try at 1:1:3 ratio next time to get a creamer, more conditioner type result.)
A few days later, we returned to our bee rescuing adventure with clean gloves and jacket. The gloves worked just as well as before, and I did not get stung, so I am concluding that the leather was not weakened in the process. Due to the way we were working with the hive, there were several guard bees that stayed with me for about an hour as we worked. This was fine as we worked, but I did not want to take them with me in the car as I left. The farmer that helps me with the bees had a great idea and used the smoke around me to get the bees off. It worked almost instantly, and I think in the future I might smoke my jacket a bit before I go to the bees and see if that helps cover up more of my pheromone.
This is me in my bee jacket. Not the greatest photo, but I was focused on the bees not my modeling career.
Adventures In Altus 