# Best gloves to buy ???



## mlewis48 (Nov 24, 2007)

I tried all of the above before one of my mentors told me to try the latex examination gloves that the doctors use. Tried them and the bees have a real hard time getting a grip to sting you. Sounds crazy but they work. With the thick gloves, you cant feel bees under your gloves and my mashing them, they sting in defence. If I were going to use leather, it would be a thin goatskin glove. I use them on removals from houses, barns, ect. I can say that I have never been stung with the thin latex. Works well, give it a try and they are cheap. Dont have to worry about transmitting any disease from hive to hive and you dont have to worry about cleaning them.


----------



## BigDaddyDS (Aug 28, 2007)

I prefer the heavy duty vented leather, myself. A lot of people complain about dexterity being compromised with the use of a leather glove, but I've personally never had a problem, provided they're thin enough for me to, say, pick up a quarter or a hive tool off of a table with a minimum of difficulty.

I got my pair from Dadant, but originally I thought I'd go with the economy model instead of the heavy duty. Luckily, I was able to try on both pairs, and the quality is MUCH higher on the heavy duty gloves. If you decide on leather gloves, I would highly recommend the heavy duty ones, hands down.

DS


----------



## randydrivesabus (Apr 27, 2006)

i use nitrile gloves....the down side is how sweaty your hands get but you don't realize it until you take them off. the upside is that you have a gloveless feel and they don't sting.


----------



## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

First, I went gloveless. Then, when the hives got more populated and more defensive, I went with gloves. Goatskin at first, which they can sting right through. Then, leather. They can sting through that as well. Any glove offers more protection than no gloves simply because some of the bees try and fail when they sting. Same as a bee jacket. Certainly, the heavier the glove the better the protection. Gloves also need to be washed. If I don't wash them from time to time, I get bees that head straight for the gloves with the intention to sting. That's when I take the gloves off and take my chances. I've never tried the latex or nitrile but I always have a box of those around the house so I'll be sure to try them next year!


----------



## jdpro5010 (Mar 22, 2007)

O.K. this may be a stupid question! But, for us less washing machine experienced, how do you wash your leather gloves? Mine state not to be machine washed. Do you wash them in the machine anyhow and let them drip dry, or do you hand wash? They are fairly expensive and I have always been afraid to try and wash them!


----------



## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

I toss them in the sink with some of that scent free laundry detergent that is used for hunting, let them soak for a while, wring them out and drip them dry. They get stiff and wrinkled but they break in fine again. Not all the propolis comes out but I'm really more interested in whatever scent the bees leave on if they sting the gloves.


----------



## jdpro5010 (Mar 22, 2007)

Thank you! That was basically what I thought but have not tried it yet. I to am mainly concerned with the scent being left by the bees.


----------



## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

I have a few pairs of the better leather gloves Dadant sells and they work fine. I keep a pair as back up for myself and I have size small pair for my GF entomologist, so she can pal along with me on occassion.

I just throw them in the washing machine after I use them and hang them up/air dry. Often they get stiff and I just wet them with water just before I use them and they soften up.

Personally, I got without gloves 99 percent of the time. I can feel things much better that way <including the stings!>


----------



## xC0000005 (Nov 17, 2004)

I use kitchen gloves like you find at a grocery store. IF a bee decides to it can certainly sting through but it's not common and most importantly I _feel_ safer. Illusion or not it makes it easier for me to handle the bees gently, so I'll take it.


----------



## BigDaddyDS (Aug 28, 2007)

To clean my gloves, I happened upon a technique last year by accident.

I came home from an afternoon of playing in the bees and left my gear out in the open, stored in an oversized milk crate. My cats went NUTS for the taste of honey, wax and propolis, and I had a hard time shooing them away from them. After a while, I realized that the cats had done a pretty good job cleaning up my gloves for me.

But, on the downside... I realized some time later that in addition to the honey, wax and propolis, there is probably also a good amount of bee venom that _could_ have triggered an allergic reaction in my cats. (Luckily, it didn't.)

So, did it work? Sure. Do I recommend it? No way. Vet bills are expensive.

From now on, I'll wash my hands with my gloves on, in the kitchen sink.

DS


----------



## shawnwri (Jul 31, 2006)

I like the powder-free nitrile gloves for most times. Disposable, but if the bees are really hot they are too short and leave your wrists exposed.


----------



## BULLSEYE BILL (Oct 2, 2002)

Chemical resistant rubber gloves from Lowes paint department. They are lined, come in three sizes, and only $5.95.


----------



## Beemaninsa (Jun 9, 2004)

I use gloves when needed. Dadant or Mann lake heavy leather. Machine wash and oil with Neetsfoot oil.


----------



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I buy leather driving gloves and tuck them into the elastic sleeves of my bee jacket.


----------



## BULLSEYE BILL (Oct 2, 2002)

Beemaninsa said:


> heavy leather. Machine wash and oil with Neetsfoot oil.


That is why I use the rubber now. The last leather gloves I washed got real stiff, so I used Neetsfoot oil on them to TRY to soften them up. I tried to use them but they were real stiff and the sweat leached an orange stain on my hands.


----------



## Beemaninsa (Jun 9, 2004)

Bullseye, the yellow stain might be from a dye the manufacturer used. Happened to me. I rubbed my eyes with stained hands and it blistered my eyes so bad I could not drive home. I like rubber gloves except they make my hands sweat too much, fill with sweat and stink. After a few hours hands are like prunes. Need lots of neetsfoot to soften leather gloves well the first time.


----------



## Ross (Apr 30, 2003)

You can get goatskin at Home Depot. Like Michael, my jacket has elastic cuffs long enough to pull down over the top of the glove. I also use some of the heavier multi-layer padded gloves with gauntlets for cutouts and hot hives. I you use the elastic exam type gloves, double them. Mine invariably get splits here and there that the bees find before I do.


----------



## BULLSEYE BILL (Oct 2, 2002)

Beemaninsa said:


> Bullseye, the yellow stain might be from a dye the manufacturer used. Happened to me. I rubbed my eyes with stained hands and it blistered my eyes so bad I could not drive home. I like rubber gloves except they make my hands sweat too much, fill with sweat and stink. After a few hours hands are like prunes.


That's why I don't like the exam gloves, that and they are not durable enough for me, but mostly the sopping wet hands and prune skin. The thicker lined gloves with five inch gauntlets are the best for me especially for doing cutouts.


----------



## clintonbemrose (Oct 23, 2001)

I have not used gloves for more than 20 years but I do have some in my bee box that goes to the hives with me.
Clint


----------



## WVbeekeeper (Jun 4, 2007)

I was born with my gloves.

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u76/ccohenour1/IMG_1336.jpg

As long as I can take my time and be careful I don't need gloves and usually no 
smoke. There are times when I do have to use both and I always have both at 
hand. Leather gloves are ok but it makes it harder for me to handle frames than 
with just my hands. It makes it more difficult to feel a bee under your finger 
when your handling the frame and easier to kill them when when wearing gloves.
My goal when inspecting hives and handling bees is zero bee fatalities. Wearing 
no gloves helps to keep me more conscientious of where I place my fingers and 
I will handle the bees more carefully than when wearing gloves.


----------



## Action (Jan 8, 2005)

*Gloves*

You guys that don't wear gloves are some pretty tough dudes. I get so many black widows that my hands would be ate up from the black widows. I like my gloves.
Jack


----------



## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

I've tried gloves too, but opt to go without because, for me, bare hands make it so much easier. Jack, what do you mean about black widows, are there black widows inside your hives?


----------



## Action (Jan 8, 2005)

In between the boxes on the pallet. It stays pretty dark and the hand holds seem to fill up with these critters-Big ones at that. When I need to split boxes you can't really see between the boxes so I would rather not have a suprise.
Jack


----------



## Hampton (Apr 24, 2007)

*Gloves.*

I use a latex glove inside a kitchen glove when doing removals. I find that the bees do not sting at all and I still have all of the dexterity I want to handle the bees. Mr. Clean make a kitchen glove that is very thick that I use when in my hives. Either way I have not been stung through those gloves. The price is right too. $2.50 - $3.00. And easy to clean.


----------



## ScadsOBees (Oct 2, 2003)

If you wash gloves in the wash machine DON"T PUT THEM WITH OTHER CLOTHES!!!

To get the propolis off of my gloves, once a year I'll give them a short soak in some mineral spirits, and then wash them with soapy water. That way in the spring they are nice, soft, propolis free and ready to go.

Canvas for me, turning into fingerless canvas....not sting free but do the job well without dulling feel too much.


----------



## shylock3 (Jun 8, 2006)

*Golden bee gloves*

My gloves I got with my Golden Bee suit worked well, for a while. Then they split in a couple of places and I always have trouble getting my hands in the liners. I've never had a sting thru the gloves. Seems like I always get stung thru the heavy cloth gloves I bought when I first got hives.


----------

