In the UK, we have another concern hovering the other side of the Channel, the Asian Hornet. This vicious thumb-sized pest has wiped out the French wasp popluation, looks like it's about to do the same with most other insects, and is making bees terminally endangered.
The last word heard from DEFRA is that they want to try sorting out the first nest themselves, before using us beekeepers as the frontline troops in the fight. What they didn't consider is that they want us to go up in our bee suits, which only sometimes keep bee stings out and most certainly are pointless against the bigger, longer and more poisonous hornet stings, in cherry-pickers from which we'll have no quick escape to sort out these buggers nests in the tops of trees. Memories of WWI artillery observers in balloons comes to mind.
We need something proof against a 0.5mm o/d 10cm long sting. Kevlar's sewable by needles the same size, so that's a non-starter - I think we need something heat-sealable. Yes, I have an account at Vestguard. Any ideas?