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Frenchie

House Bee
Joined
May 23, 2010
Messages
195
Reaction score
4
Location
Normandie
Hive Type
Langstroth
Number of Hives
4
Hi,I have my basic assessment this Sunday.I react very badly to stings so have been wearing leather gloves which are very cumbersome for hive manipulations.I checked my bees yesterday and tried marigold gloves.Got stung through the gloves and felt light-headed and sick,hand is now like a balloon and as for the itching!Does anyone have any ideas what I can use which will allow me to manipulate the hive but keep me safe from stings.
Thanks.
 
Hi, I have a similar reaction and have to be very careful. I must admit, I have never had a problem with Marigolds. I find the cheaper versions such as supermarket own brands are not as thick as marigolds tho.
What you could try is wearing a double pair of marigolds. Make the outer pair one size bigger so there is plenty of slack, preventing the bees penetrating to the skin. Good luck, and don't give up yet.
 
Hello Frenchie.
take a piriton anthistamine tablet twenty minutes before opening the hive.

wear yellow marigolds.

if possible have a smoker boy with you to free you up from that duty.



when using the smoker, pump the bellows slowly and breathe the smoke over the bees you shouldn't hear it puffing. very often beeks go at it like ther'e pumping up a lorry tyre until the bees come out crying.

puff smoke over your arms and hands first.

move like you're under water when manipulating frames.

good luck with your assesment.
 
Someone in another thread suggested olbas oil on your fingers.
 
I like the plastic gloves with gauntlets from p@ynes. Get the right size and they are not a bad fit and they are 100 per cent sting proof, went into a bad hive once and sat for ages afterwards pulling 75 stings out of the gloves. None got through to me. For sensitive people and stroppy hives they are magic.... But a little sweaty! You have to dry them out after every use, they can be washed though!
E
 
I like the plastic gloves with gauntlets from p@ynes. Get the right size and they are not a bad fit and they are 100 per cent sting proof, went into a bad hive once and sat for ages afterwards pulling 75 stings out of the gloves. None got through to me. For sensitive people and stroppy hives they are magic.... But a little sweaty! You have to dry them out after every use, they can be washed though!
E

Sound very similar to the washing up type gloves I get from local Sxxnsbury supermkt. Used them for years - gauntlet OK but I add parcel tape around margin where it meets suit to stop bees getting down into glove and whacking me. Clever little devils. A bee has only once managed to penetrate the glove but the sting only just tiptoed through so I barely felt the sting. Apart from that, an elderly beek pal uses the leather beeking gloves from THxxns and douses them in olive oil to keep them supple and sweatproof. Don't fancy it myself - much more expensive too. But then he was educated at Eton etc!!!!
 
I used to wear thin or thick white cotton 'inspection' gloves I got from work underneath some marigolds which I found gave me more confidence when i started beekeeping.

You can probably get these from your local DIY store - They allow feeling, soak up sweat which marigolds will cause and add about a bee sting length of thickness.
 
I use long-cuff nitriles available from justgloves dot com. Cotton liners help, and reduce sweatiness. I've only once had a sting through them, and so little got through it was just like a scratch. The only down side is that they are not really available in small sizes - I use the smallest, which are still a little large, and I have quite big paws for a girl!

I recently had a huge systemic reaction to a sting and am waiting on a referral for immunological testing, so I'm cautious of getting another at the moment, but I have faith in these gloves, and am carrying on as normal, being careful not to antagonise the bees. I close up if they start to rev up and get a bit lively. So far so good.
 
I wear thin cotton gloves (from 99p shop) beneath long-cuff nitriles, they soak up the sweat and do offer a little more protection - I react very badly to stings on my hands.

Nitriles are like these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/370644627544?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

If you're using new gloves it's a good idea to wash them first, to get rid of the 'new' smell. Washing soda solution will do, with maybe a drop or two of an essential oil and/or a capful of bleach.
 
I like the plastic gloves with gauntlets from p@ynes. Get the right size and they are not a bad fit and they are 100 per cent sting proof, went into a bad hive once and sat for ages afterwards pulling 75 stings out of the gloves. None got through to me. For sensitive people and stroppy hives they are magic.... But a little sweaty! You have to dry them out after every use, they can be washed though!
E

But it is like washing up with wells on your hands, Enrico. Great for uppity times, but hopeless for manipulations.
 
I wear a good fitting pair of marigolds with a pair of quality disposable nitrile gloves over the top... Never been stung though this combination [and many have tried...].

I reuse the marigolds but replace the nitriles every time as its only the nitriles that come into contact with the bees.

Good luck with the exam....
 
But it is like washing up with wells on your hands, Enrico. Great for uppity times, but hopeless for manipulations.

I honestly don't have a problem but I have lovely slim fingers, are yours big buch mitts?
 
{Olbas oil} Or oil of clove. Works wonders.

I've got a scrap of rag (quarter of an ancient had towel), which gets a few drops of oil of cloves onto it, then scrunched up and put into a poly bag, which is then folded closed.
With clean gloves, wipe your hands on the towel and those gloves will be perfumed such that the bees are disinterested in them.
I found oil of cloves in Holland & Barratt -- other shops doubtless stock it. (Chemists?)

Try other gloves inside washing up gloves. I've used nitrile disposables, but like the idea of the cotton gloves - I'm going to try that!

Larger supermarkets will have a selection of rubber gloves. "Household" ones are thicker than washing up ones - and they may have some really thick drain-cleaning ones. See what you fancy trying - don't just get the cheapest!



If you do get stung, scratch to get the still-pumping sting out asap. Then (ideally wash and) perfume your hands (smoke or scented oil, or both) before going back into the hive.
 
With all the glove combos mentioned so far I would still say that if the bees want to sting you, they will.
Sorry Enrico, those gloves ain't sting proof. I was stung on the thumb through those a few years ago. Double marigolds, nitrile/marigold, double nitrile, leather, leather/vinyl, they can get through. Best you can expect is fewer actually will.
 
With all the glove combos mentioned so far I would still say that if the bees want to sting you, they will.
Sorry Enrico, those gloves ain't sting proof. I was stung on the thumb through those a few years ago. Double marigolds, nitrile/marigold, double nitrile, leather, leather/vinyl, they can get through. Best you can expect is fewer actually will.

:iagree:
 
Hi,I have my basic assessment this Sunday.I react very badly to stings so have been wearing leather gloves which are very cumbersome for hive manipulations.I checked my bees yesterday and tried marigold gloves.Got stung through the gloves and felt light-headed and sick,hand is now like a balloon and as for the itching!Does anyone have any ideas what I can use which will allow me to manipulate the hive but keep me safe from stings.
Thanks.

I am currantly reading a book from around 1929 on The smallholder, Gardening, Poultry and smallholding: Encyclopaedia! wherein it states that that most beekeepers use bear hands and often soak them in Ordinary Vinegar this would usually obviate any risk of stings! I take it that Ordinary vinegar would be malt Vinegar!?.
 
After reading a thread on here recently and having to open up my touchy bees I tried using obas oil (didn't have much) and tea tree oil, did put them off abit I think but I'm going to get cotton gloves to go under marigolds as I hate getting such sweaty hands. Good luck on Sunday.
 

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