15th~16th century inspired Beekeeper Costume

Here are all depictions of medieval and renaissance beekeepers I could find that wear a uniform with any sort of face covering.

For medieval reenactors that seek to depict an accurate beekeeper, these pose a certain challenge: only the beekeepers in Bruegel’s pen drawing distinctly wear a woven basket as face piece. All the others could be wearing one made of wire, a kind of sieve, or simply fabric draped over their face; which would, if we follow the basic etiquette/rules of reenacting, make the beekeeper with a basket face Renaissance, and not Medieval.
In the sphere of historical reenactment, it is important to back up depicitons with sufficient sources, be it in art or actual findings of surviving garments (which is obviously very difficult in this case), and one has to acknowledge that for the beekeeper, there simply isn’t enough material to make the claim that basket-faced professionals existed before the 1500s. It is reasonably possible, since baskets did exist then, and were most likely cheaper and more widely available than wire mesh, but we can’t say for sure.

This is, of course, mostly important to those who wish to be historically accurate, for example those who are part of a reenactment group that specializes in a specific time frame. For hobbyists, let this simply be an interesting tidbit I thought worth mentioning.

I also use medieval and renaissance somewhat interchangably in the other sections; I know this is not the correct method but I wanted to point it out just in case. I mean the timespan of the very late european medieval to early renaissance.

Fig. 01			Die Bienenzüchter. Das Blatt zeigt vermutlich einen Handlungsablauf. Federzeichnung etwa 1568. Pieter Bruegel der Ältere (1526/1530–1569)
Fig. 02			Gering Ackerbau wen in Reüssen.. “Early illustration of a beekeeper. Showing two bee baskets and a beekeeper.” From the German edition of Sebastian Münster's Cosmography, titled Cosmographey oder beschreibung aller Länder, published 1574 by Heinrich Petri in Basel. First published in 1544.
Fig. 03			Georgics. Bodleian Library MS. Rawl. G. 98. fol. 049v: Italy, Milan: 15th century, middle Beekeepers, beehives, extraction of honey; in initial, Virgil writing. Two beekeepers in uniform tend to beehives, smoking them, while two more, dressed in normal clothes, seem to be extracting the honey.
Fig. 04			VERGILIUS, Bucolica, Georgica, Aeneis. France, Lyon, Bibliothèque de la Part-Dieu - P.A. 27, 248 f. 15e s. (ca. 1411) ; 15e s. (milieu) ; 15e s. (fin) Depicting a beekeeper tanging a swarm of bees.
Fig. 05			Neu vollkommen Kräuter-buch : Darinnen über 3000. Kräuter. Theodorus, Iacobus; Date Original 1613. According to Forster: Die Biene: appeared in publications in 1588 and in the 15th century. Also depicting a beekeeper tanging a swarm of bees.

Clothing item: Gugel	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gugel

The act of “tanging bees” describes a method of apiculture in which the beekeeper makes rhythmic, loud noises, such as with metal objects or a drum, which is supposed to lure and entice the bees into their beehive, or “call the swarm back to the hive”. Examples of this from manuscripts can be seen in the research section, Fig. 04 & Fig. 05, and here are some more.