If you want to be a successful beekeeper, you must not be afraid of looking a prat in a silly hat. The hat and veil have a ring which keeps the veil away from the face. The gloves cover right up to the top of the arms, and have elasticated openings. A little smoke is blown into the hive entrance, and sometimes under the top cover. The bees in the hive start to gorge on honey from their stores.
Nobody likes to fight on a full stomach, so the bees, bloated, are calmer and easier to handle.
Corrugated cardboard rolls, or pieces of rag make decent smoker fuel. A 'Hive Tool' of some kind is important, as the bees stick hive parts together. A half gallon feeder. In the spring or autumn, a supplementary feed of syrup can make all the difference between the survival of the colony through winter, and loss by starvation. Spring feed is made up at the rate of 1 kilogramme of sugar to 1 litre of water.