# Nitrile Exam Gloves - no sting on the hands



## John Jones (Apr 1, 2008)

I have been using Nitrile Exam Gloves like doctors wear in hospitals. They are chemical proof, stick resistant (bee cannot sting through them), and you can feel what you are doing. Get a box and try them out. Grainger has several different ones. I personally use Kimbely-Clark purple Nitrile powder-free exam gloves number 55083. You can put in Kimberly-Clark 55083 in Google and get a hit. 

I find that these are cheep $12 for a hundred. Also, if you visit your buddies hives wearing gloves is good for not bringing home any virus.
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/1AV58

See YouTube video on Nitrile gloves with me trying to stick a needle and knife through them. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M143EyVv3E

John Jones
Stone Mountain, Ga.


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## jasontatro (Feb 6, 2008)

Thanks John. I've wondered about this for some time. Having worked in a hospital in the past I was curious if these would work.

JT


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## JoeMcc (May 15, 2007)

I use them too....until i get to a real hot hive. 

Can you mark a queen with them on? That is something i havnt tried.

JoeMcc


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## Ross (Apr 30, 2003)

Interesting, mine definitely are not sting proof. I'll have to try some. They do make your hands sweat though.


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## jasontatro (Feb 6, 2008)

$6.15/100

http://www.glovenation.com/NitrileGrapeGrip.html


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## John Jones (Apr 1, 2008)

*Nitrile glove*

Can you mark the queen in these?? Have not tired it. Doctors do surgery in them. Nurses find vanes and draw blood and do other task. I would have to say yes as a guess. I like the idea of not touching bees from one or group of hives without changing gloves. Much like nurses and doctors change gloves when interacting with patients. Makes sense on humans in the transfer of bacteria, virus, etc., makes sense on bees.

I took a stick pen and pushed against the nitrile glove. It did not go through the glove. I took my pocket knife and pushed it against the nitrile glove and it did not go through. I was pushing harder than any bee could push. Sting proof... dont know absolutely yet. Can you feel what you are touching better than gloves, absolutely. They sure help though. Try a pair. I am planning to do a youtube production on this concept. I will post the link if, when I get it done. I gave a few pair to Fred Rossman in Moultrie and told him to get some of his guys that are in the fields all day to give some feedback. He liked the concept enough to ask me to send him the information on the glove. They only have 3500 hives.

John Jones
Stone Mountain, Ga.


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## Hanover Honey (Mar 26, 2008)

*Bare Hands*

Try it. No sweat, 100% fell/thouch, and they wash easy.
Also get fewer sting in the hand than I did when I wore gloves, as you can feel the bees and not squish them. Go no glove!


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## Ross (Apr 30, 2003)

Not for every hive Hanover.


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## peggjam (Mar 4, 2005)

I use latex gloves alot, but they are not sting proof, and they do make your hands sweat alot. I wouldn't go gloveless until I have hives that are gentle. We're getting there, but not quite there yet.


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## randydrivesabus (Apr 27, 2006)

i've never been stung through nitrile gloves. it is amazing how much your hands sweat though.


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## Jim Fischer (Jan 5, 2001)

I challenge everyone who does not have an extreme reaction to bee
stings to cut off the pinky finger of one glove for one month. After
than cut another finger off the gloves, and continue until all the
fingers have been cut off both gloves.

At that point, consider removing one or both gloves as a whole.

Sure, you will get stung every so often, but I assure you that in
working 500-600 hives of my own for more than a decade, and 
helping out others, mentoring new beekeepers, and so on that
bare hands are not commonly stung unless the hand squeezes 
a bee.

I don't agree with the braggarts and stoics at all. You DO need to
own a veil, and you need it at least nearby, if not on your face.

And you do need to smoke your bees! 

But a full suit and gloves? I've never owned either one. Bought
lots of them for employees and friends, but I've never used 'em
myself.

I'd rather get a sting than get heat stroke.


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## blkcloud (May 25, 2005)

I have used them several times but not in conjunction with bees..i cant get them on unless I put my hands down into a bag of oil dry to "powder" them up before I put them on..


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## LtlWilli (Mar 11, 2008)

Hmmmm...Glad to hear all this...My daughter gave us a fine 8 lb. 13 oz. little granddaughter yesterday afternoon, and she must have seen me looking at the surgical gloves in a cabinet on the wall...Today, she was released , and brought me a whole handful of singly packed surgical gloves by Ansell---DermaClean Powder-free is what they are....Compliments of her doctor. Maybe they'll be sting proof, too....If not , they'll still be very handy when I am applying Liquid Nails to the boxes I build.


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## Troy (Feb 9, 2006)

You use Liquid Nails? Have you tried other glues? I would assume that Liquid Nails would not be the "best" glue for hives as it is intended as an adhesive more than a bonding agent.

I use Titebond III and have been pretty happy with it.

This is not meant as a criticism, just a question.


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## John Gesner (Dec 17, 2005)

This is my fifth year and I'm finally going gloveless. I still keep 99 cent yellow dishgloves in the toolbox just in case, but don't use them. Just cause bees jump on your hands, doesn't mean they're going to sting you. And getting that into my head was the hardest part.

That being said, I help teach our clubs beginning beekeeping class. Last Saturday was the hands-on hive session. It was cool, breezy and cloudy. Not a good day to open hives, but the students needed to see it. It was actually good that I got stung on the hand, while they watched, so I could show them what to do and how to act. Kinda funny, actually. I also had a bee climb up my pants leg and sting me on the back of the thigh. Told the students it was going to happen when I felt her crawling up there. To top it all off, somehow a bee crawled inside my veil and was calmly walking around on my ear. When she got around to the front, I taught the students how to dispatch her without taking off the veil (or getting stung).

Does that all constitute "taking one for the team"?


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## arjay (Jun 8, 2007)

i go without gloves whenever possible, because i hate the restriction/heat/lack of feeling that they cause. when i do use them, though, i use a cheap-o pair of garden gloves - the fabric ones with the rubber-dipped fingers/palms. the fabric is much cooler and more comfortable, while the rubber coatings do a great job of repelling stings, plus they're better-fitting than most beekeeping gloves, so i still have some feeling in my fingers and decent control.


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## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

I use gloves as I prefer not using smoke, Stupid move I know and one I should change


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## Dick Allen (Sep 4, 2004)

I have latex and/or nitrile gloves available in my beekeeping equipment sack. Even the nitrile gloves are not sting proof, but they are sting resistant as are the latex gloves. I imagine they mask the beekeeper’s scent from the bees. I’ve had testy hives that go for the hands when lifting out a frame, but put on a pair of those gloves and it does, for the most part, curtail the stinging. So, I keep them handy and use if needed. 

Generally, I'm in the don't wear a veil crowd, BUT:



> You DO need to own a veil, and you need it at least nearby.


Strangely enough, I do agree with Dr. Fischer, Ph.D. on that.


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## LtlWilli (Mar 11, 2008)

Troy......I use Liquid Nails for outside beads and to fill exterior cracks. ---It takes paint better than TiteBond. ..I do keep a qt. of TiteBond II onhand as well for all butt to butt joining and interior seam fixing....Thanks for the concern, though. I appreciate it, and know where you were coming from.


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## John Jones (Apr 1, 2008)

*See Nitrile glove on YouTube*

I have posted a video on YouTube showing the resistance of a needle and knife blade on Nitrile gloves. Take a look. Others are confirming a bee cannot sting through Nitrile gloves. I found out if you hold your breath you hands do not sweat in these gloves..... only kidding.

John Jones 
Stone Mountain, Ga.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M143EyVv3E


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## LEAD PIPE (May 22, 2005)

I would like to see a bee stinger held with a pair of tweezers and see if you can get it to go through them. A bees stinger is much smaller than a needle. I would try it but I don't have my bees yet.


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## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

John:

Thank yo ufor posting the info on that. Do you think the gloves are reusable? And the cheapest supplier???


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## JeffJones (Sep 7, 2006)

Has anybody ever thought about putting some bee repellant on their gloves before going to work? Just a thought


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## Hanover Honey (Mar 26, 2008)

JeffJones said:


> Has anybody ever thought about putting some bee repellant on their gloves before going to work? Just a thought


NO,NO,NO. If you wear gloves then why would you need to repel them?


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## peletier (May 5, 2007)

*Nitrile gloves...OUCH!*

Ouch ouch ouch. Sorry, they don't work for me.


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## Brenda (Nov 23, 2006)

I've been using latex medical gloves, but sent off for some nitrile samples from GloveNation. 
I bought a pair of beekeepers leather gloves, but they seem so bulky, I haven't used them yet.


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## thera (Mar 25, 2008)

*Women's size- Wells Lamont gloves*

An alternative for women because the men's leather or canvas gloves are just too bulky and too long in the fingers to work well for some woman. I found these Wells Lamont goatskin gloves at Lowe's (I think around $15). 
The gauntlet cuff is nice for sticking into your shirt sleeve so no gaps for bees to get into. 
I am amazingly dexterous in these gloves.

http://www.wellslamont.com/pg_styledetail.php?style=1786

STYLE: 1788 - Ultimate Tough Comfort Goatskin Leather Glove

DESCRIPTION:
Gauntlet cuff, Feeltite adjustable wrist closure, padded palm, Garden Tips. 
Colors: Honey Nut/Olive Branch
Small: UPC 0-53300-05475-4
Medium: UPC 0-53300-05460-0


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## John Jones (Apr 1, 2008)

*Nitrile Gloves*

This is an update on my concept of using Nitrile Gloves in beekeeping. I worked with one of the commercial beekeepers in the area pretty much 6 hours on a Saturday for experience and to learn. I used the Nitrile Gloves. By the end of the time spent together I had two other guys who tried a pair. None of us got stung. Since this article was first posted I have not been stung with the gloves on. Is it sting proof - NO. But do I get stung - NO. Try um, you might like them. A few far more experienced beekeepers than me tried the goves from our beekeeping association. One by one they are starting to use them. I have has no one tell me they got stung with the gloves on. From other post on this Blog, it seems to work for them also.

John Jones
Stone Mountain, Ga.


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## JoeMcc (May 15, 2007)

John Jones said:


> This is an update on my concept of using Nitrile Gloves in beekeeping. I worked with one of the commercial beekeepers in the area pretty much 6 hours on a Saturday for experience and to learn. I used the Nitrile Gloves. By the end of the time spent together I had two other guys who tried a pair. None of us got stung. Since this article was first posted I have not been stung with the gloves on. Is it sting proof - NO. But do I get stung - NO. Try um, you might like them. A few far more experienced beekeepers than me tried the goves from our beekeeping association. One by one they are starting to use them. I have has no one tell me they got stung with the gloves on. From other post on this Blog, it seems to work form them also.
> 
> John Jones
> Stone Mountain, Ga.


Ive been using them too.... so far so good. Took one sting but it did not hit the skin.

JoeMcc


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## AllFloridaBee (Sep 25, 2007)

I wear nitrile gloves on every job and do notice fewer stings. hot bees will start hitting my wrist and then start getting me through the nitrile gloves. About 2 dozen stings and I switch to my beekeeping gloves. I can confirm that a carpenter bee can sting right through nitrile, btw


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## John Jones (Apr 1, 2008)

*Nitrile gloves used in beekeeping*

This is another update. Still no stings using the gloves. One of the local beekeepers in the Metro Atlanta Beekeepers said she has been stung 4 times. I have not been able to talk to her about where, how, etc. I am going to take her a few pair of my nitrile gloves for her to compare hers to the ones I have. They do come in different thicknesses. Also, mine are medical grade and I am not sure that makes a difference. I will update more when I know more. Chief Isaac is going to try a few pair and give us some feedback.

John Jones
Stone Mountain, Ga.


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## JoeMcc (May 15, 2007)

John Jones said:


> This is another update. Still no stings using the gloves. One of the local beekeepers in the Metro Atlanta Beekeepers said she has been stung 4 times. I have not been able to talk to her about where, how, etc. I am going to take her a few pair of my nitrile gloves for her to compare hers to the ones I have. They do come in different thicknesses. Also, mine are medical grade and I am not sure that makes a difference. I will update more when I know more. Chief Isaac is going to try a few pair and give us some feedback.
> 
> John Jones
> Stone Mountain, Ga.


I havn't been stung through them yet. I did get stung once but the stinger did not go through all the way. I worked about 15 hives with one pair. I do know there are differnt strengths of gloves. Infact my mechanic gave me a pair to try. They are a little thicker yet but are black. So far so good with those too.

Joe


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## blueskybeesupply (Dec 11, 2007)

When I was a county bee inspector, Nitrile gloves are all I used. Not only are they resistant to stings, they help limit the spread of disease. I pick them up locally at Harbor Freight for around $7.99/100 on sale.

You'll definitely get stinger points poking through occasionally, but they rarely end up piercing the skin.

No need to buy these from your bee supply dealer! ; )


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## Action (Jan 8, 2005)

*Yea right!*

Sometimes I help a friend that weres them, I laugh my a** off when he runs from all the stings. Myself I will were the real thing. Kind of a funny subject to me.
Jack


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## JoeMcc (May 15, 2007)

Action said:


> Sometimes I help a friend that weres them, I laugh my a** off when he runs from all the stings. Myself I will were the real thing. Kind of a funny subject to me.
> Jack


Aggresive bees? 

JoeMcc


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## pcelar (Oct 5, 2007)

Action said:


> Sometimes I help a friend that weres them, I laugh my a** off when he runs from all the stings. Myself I will were the real thing. Kind of a funny subject to me.
> Jack


I wear them always and am yet to be stung.


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## John Jones (Apr 1, 2008)

*Nitrile Glove update*

It is January 2009 and I made it throuth the whole spring /summer / fall season using the Nitrile gloves and only got stung once. It was my fault as I put my finger flat on a bees butt to hard and she nailed me. Other than that I was sting free. However, I did get popped a few times on the wrist where my jacket and glove separated exposing my skin. That is a tinder area.

John Jones
Stone Mountain, Georgia


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## Medovina (Apr 7, 2008)

I've been using them all summer. They're good but definitely not sting proof. I think I got 2 or 3 stingers through the nitrile gloves (blue)


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## Hampton (Apr 24, 2007)

John Jones,

Great Utube video. I use both the nitrile gloves and also a glove made by "Mr. Clean". Both of the gloves seam to allow for better handling and reduce the stinging of the bees. I think unless you wash your hands after every hive, these glose give better protection from the spread of diseases. I change the gloves and use hand sanitizer. I have had bees on my hands and sting but they can't get the stinger into my skin. After a puff of smoke the bee flies off with her stinger still attached (no harm to me or her). That has happened more than once. Great idea and thanks for bringing it up.


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## Tillie (Apr 26, 2006)

I am the beekeeper that was stung and told John about it at the Metro meeting. I've worn his and some I ordered from Gempler's (the company he recommended). 

I LOVE them, but I do get stung through them. I don't care, though. I'd rather have the flexibility and the ability to feel what's going on so much better - and I'm always using the camera and it is much easier to push the shoot button with these on than the leather gloves. 

I did notice last season that I didn't have the reaction to bee stings that I had in the previous two years where the sting location always had a "large local reaction." Last year when I was stung in the hand, I could barely tell it - a red place and small swelling. Don't know if the gloves took some of the sting out or what!

Linda T in Atlanta


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## mgmoore7 (Jul 6, 2007)

I am glad to here about this option. I have the big leather gloves and I just don't like using them but I am not really willing to go gloveless as I am not yet used to feeling the bees. Additionally, I tried to go gloveless this past Sunday and got stung 5 times in the hand in a matter of seconds. They seem to be able to find the skin quickly when it is available.


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## doc25 (Mar 9, 2007)

I found this with wasps as well. Getting stung above a glove or sock. Heat seeking? Can they not feel something? so are less prone to sting?


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## Sundance (Sep 9, 2004)

randydrivesabus said:


> i've never been stung through nitrile gloves. it is amazing how much your hands sweat though.


Nitrile is way better than Latex........ 

The sweat issue can be helped by using light cotten
gloves under the nitriles. I get the bulk pack of cheap
woven cotton gloves at Wally world.

I have thought about using a spray on antiperspirant
(scent free) on the hands too. Anyone tried that????


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## USCBeeMan (Feb 7, 2009)

New beekeeper. Started last year. It didn't take me long to figure out that wearing beekeeper gloves are not the way to go. I am clumsy in them and tend to let frames slip when I am pulling them out of the supers. That just ticks them off big time. I got stung around 20 times through my gloves on one incident as described above.

So I started going gloveless. Do I get stung, yep. But really not that often. Just this past week I opened all 4 of my hives all the way done to the brood box. I got stung twice on the hand.

I tried some plain ole medical latex gloves once. The bees didn't seem to want to land on them but I had to pull them off. Any sharp object/edge just would rip them to shreds.


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## HVH (Feb 20, 2008)

This thread is interesting in that most all of us would much prefer working with the least amount of protection and not getting stung too often. But it seems to me that it depends much on the temperament of your bees.
When I first began keeping bees, like most of you, I read every book I could find. It was my impression from all that reading that swarms were always docile and if you were one with the bees you didn't need gloves. My first summer reinforced all of my reading. I went after several swarms with flip flops, shorts and a sleeveless tee-shirt. Then I decided to buy some bees from the apiary formerly owned by Steve Taber. Nothing has ever been the same. These bees were extremely hot. When they threw their first swarm I was ready for the normal gentle swarm collection procedures. I had never been stung so many times nor ran for my life up until that moment. Since I wasn't about to let a swarm go, I suited up and retrieved the bees. The next mistake, was buying some Buckfast bees. These guys were really hot. My son and I collected honey supers this last fall and I came home with goat skin gloves that looked like pin cushions. I like the goat skin gloves but near the end of the season they are worn thin enough for many stingers to find their way. So after hours of collecting supers I must have had over 50 stings make their way into my hands (not counting in the veil and up the pants). 
I will try some nitrile gloves as an experiment but I think a few of my colonies are going to laugh at me with kamikaze grins. The nitrile is a definite no for the summer months for me because I can't stand the prune hands.


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## Sundance (Sep 9, 2004)

HVH said:


> I will try some nitrile gloves as an experiment but I think a few of my colonies are going to laugh at me with kamikaze grins. The nitrile is a definite no for the summer months for me because I can't stand the prune hands.


You will be pleasantly surprised with them. And if you
do the cotton under glove, prune hands are minimized.

I have worked some hot colonies with them, it's like
they can't get a grip.


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## Aram (May 9, 2006)

I've seen a bee try to sting me through nitriles. She just couldn't penetrate at all. Never got stung through them though I know I should never say never. I found covering my hands in corn powder (the fine powder in the chicken feed bin) helps. I know not everyone has it available but some other powders might work also. Talcum?


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## HVH (Feb 20, 2008)

Sundance said:


> You will be pleasantly surprised with them. And if you
> do the cotton under glove, prune hands are minimized.
> 
> I have worked some hot colonies with them, it's like
> they can't get a grip.


I'll try them.


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## USCBeeMan (Feb 7, 2009)

*Nitrile Gloves Work!*

I purchased 2 boxes of large gloves in eBay the other day. Most were purple or black. Since both are dark colors it didn't make sense to get them. But I did find them in a light blue.

When I took my wife to the hospital today for outpatient surgery there was a box of light blue nitrile gloves (large) in the room. I took 2 gloves home with me to try.

They work. I felt the bees bumping my hand and fingers but never got stung.............until I accidently closed my hand on one when I was picking up the burr comb to put it into a ball. That was the only sting and there were a lot of bees flying and coming at my veil. It was a weird feeling as it felt like the bees were bouncing on my gloves.

I did note that the gloves aren't much better than the latex gloves when it comes to holding up. Before I was finished, I had plenty of small tears in both gloves.

Can't wait for mine to show up in the mail in the next few days.


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## mgmoore7 (Jul 6, 2007)

I too picked up some nitrile gloves a few days ago from Harbor Freight. They were $11 for a box of 100 (light blue). I needed new gloves anyway and am hoping to find the nitrile gloves a solution for me. I don't like using the big leather gloves but when I don't I seem to get stung alot and I still have not gotten used to the feeling of the bees crawling on me, especially my hands.


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## Sundance (Sep 9, 2004)

Like everything, there are quality differences. I've
had nitriles that were tougher than the last box I
got at Sams........ I am not sure why. Different 
mil thickness perhaps??


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## D Coates (Jan 6, 2006)

I sweat like a beast as it is. I liked the nitrile gloves when I first tried them. By the time I was done I lifted my hands to take off the gloves and sweat poured out like water down my clothes. I had prune hands something fierce. I tried them a few more time but found the pooling sweat, pruned hands and the rinsing out the gloves and making sure to hang them properly so they'd dry by the mext weekend was more trouble than it was worth. I found reusing better than new ones because the new ones would make a nitrile powder sweat soup when I'd sweat in them. I bought some thin goatskin leather ones with cotton cuffs, dipped the leather in olive oil and have been happy ever since.


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## USCBeeMan (Feb 7, 2009)

*Sweaty hands*

Are you using the throw away nitrile gloves of the ones that are much heavier weight that are to be used for a long time. If the later, then that may be why you are sweating so much. Just a thought. 

Just something that came to my head. Might try purchasing some 4X4 gause squares and put them in the palm of your hand before/after you put the gloves on to absorb the sweat. They also make a 4X4 "pad" that is a not stick "surgical" pad that wicks fluid away (like from a wound).

Can purchase them in any drug store and most drug departments in grocery stores and "box" stores.


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## D Coates (Jan 6, 2006)

They were blue and seemed the thickness of dishwashing gloves. I guess they weren't really disposable but they breath the same way. I've used the truely disposable ones while field cleaning and butchering deer. I found they got REALLY cold and my hands pruned up badly. I wasn't sweating much so the pooling wasn't an issue and I did love that clean up involved taking off the gloves. It felt wonderful when I took the gloves off as my hands dry off and warm up. I might try a pair of the truely disposable ones, I might be surpised. The goatskin and cotton ones have been great for me for the past couple of years though.


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## iwombat (Feb 3, 2009)

My local NAPA carries boxes of nitrile gloves. $7.50 or so for 100. Been using them in the shop for years. Time to try some in the bee yard.


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## Jay Burgess (Aug 3, 2007)

*nitrile gloves*

I was using the high risk nitrile gloves 15mil until I got the worst sting I ever got on the thumb. Ive been stung many times but this girl swelled my arm and had a dime sized blood blister as well that burned for over a week. The girls were pretty hot at the time.


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## mgmoore7 (Jul 6, 2007)

I used the the nitrile gloves this weekend and this morning. I was very pleased. No stings. The ones I have are a little short and if I don't pull and tighten my Ultra Breeze jacket real close to my wrist then I have some wrist vulnerable. 

Still I am pleased. Working the hives was much easier than the big leather gloves and I was more relaxed than when not wearing gloves. 

My hands were very sweaty once done but i did not notice that until I took the gloves off. So I really don't care.


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## davidmiller27 (Aug 25, 2021)

Nitrile exam gloves came to prominence in the 1990s as a leading latex alternate. While they’re not as flexible or elastic as their latex counterparts, reusable nitrile gloves are notably more durable and resistant to chemicals.


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