Olbas oil on gloves

[Pips]

Just wanted to share my experience with this. Been beekeeping since April, two young hives then, much bigger now! I use marigolds, not quite brave enough of nitrile or bare hands. I rub the gloves with oil as oil which really does seem to keep the bees off and haven't been stung yet so am guessing it must do something. Just thought it may be worth any other newbies trying if getting stung in the hand is a problem.

 

[madasafish]

I use it on my hands.. does discourage some bees.. I think it's the Oil of Cloves in it..

 

[itma]

I use it on my hands.. does discourage some bees.. I think it's the Oil of Cloves in it..

Oil of Cloves - a few drops onto a bit of rag - is something I have used on my gloves.
Don't bother these days.

I think that new beekeepers are best advised to concentrate on gentle frame handling, and noticing what it might be that they do that upsets their bees (so they can avoid doing it again!)

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Oil of Cloves - a few drops onto a bit of rag - is something I have used on my gloves.
Don't bother these days.

I think that new beekeepers are best advised to concentrate on gentle frame handling, and noticing what it might be that they do that upsets their bees (so they can avoid doing it again!)

The development of handling technique is top priority in my view.

 

[Pips]

Yes, handling skill is the thing to learnable you say, but anything that helps you be calm and confident at the start helps you to learn that and makes inspection enjoyable.

 

[Rahere]

You don't wear gloves to protect you, though, but to protect the bees from cross-contamination. Leather's pointless with soda, I need something, so nitrile it is - and plenty of them in my pockets, wash my tools and change gloves between colonies. The gloves rot from the soda anyway, and kitchen gloves are too thick for feeling.

 

[Cazza]

You don't wear gloves to protect you, though, but to protect the bees from cross-contamination. Leather's pointless with soda, I need something, so nitrile it is - and plenty of them in my pockets, wash my tools and change gloves between colonies. The gloves rot from the soda anyway, and kitchen gloves are too thick for feeling.

You might not wear gloves to protect you but I certainly do. (See Enrico's recent nightmare.)

I do not crush bees because I can't feel them - actually, I can feel them through my blue rubber gauntlets. (I've always thought all the rubbish about "not feeling the bees" was total carp.) You just have to be careful and steady handed.
Cazza

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

I hate being stung on the hands. Which is the idea, really...

 

[madasafish]

Bunch of wusses

REAL beekeepers handle bees with bare hands..

 

[Gilberdyke John]

You don't wear gloves to protect you, though, but to protect the bees from cross-contamination. Leather's pointless with soda, I need something, so nitrile it is - and plenty of them in my pockets, wash my tools and change gloves between colonies. The gloves rot from the soda anyway, and kitchen gloves are too thick for feeling.

The major benefit of nitriles to me is it enables me to instantly get rid of goo (soft but tenacious propolis) by changing gloves on the run, plus bees don't get tangled up in the hairs on the back of my hands and panic.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Bunch of wusses

Yep! I'm happy enough to stay a wuss.

I don't like being stung on my hands, so I wear thick nitrile gloves. They get washed in between hives if necessary.

Maybe the inspectorate should stop wearing gloves? After all, to prevent cross-infection they could wash their hands between colonies just as easily as washing, or changing, gloves.

 

[kazmcc]

You might not wear gloves to protect you but I certainly do. (See Enrico's recent nightmare.)

I do not crush bees because I can't feel them - actually, I can feel them through my blue rubber gauntlets. (I've always thought all the rubbish about "not feeling the bees" was total carp.) You just have to be careful and steady handed.
Cazza

I totally agree. I wear thick washing up gloves. I had my own bees for about 2 years, and have helped others at inspections and I've been lucky enough not to be stung ( well, properly ). I would suggest a frame rest, so you have plenty of room to pull frames without rolling the bees, and in future I am going to use a method Dusty uses and have a clean bowl of soda water at each hive. At one inspection we were removing brace comb and I got honey on my fingers of the glove. A bee got stuck in the honey and stung, so now I rinse my fingers if they get sticky with honey ( propolis is another matter lol ) Other things I do are make sure the lugs are clear of bees, make sure when lifting boxes there are no bees lurking that could get trapped and sting, I am also very aware of the bees 'mood'. If they are agitated, I will not do things that aren't necessary and will work quickly but carefully. It has worked for me so far. I trust in my equipment and make sure bees cannot enter my suit via any gaps, but feel my weak point are my hands. I think the confidence in the rest of my equipment helps my confidence during inspections

 

[Swarm]

Something wrong if you can't feel a bee through marigolds. With properly fitting leather gloves you can still feel a bee and washed in soda, allowed to dry and treated with neatsfoot oil, leather gloves are no problem.

 

[Pips]

What kind of leather gloves? Driving glove types?

 

[Rahere]

It's what the goo can bring with it that matters, otherwise it could be done at the end of the shift. Listening hard though...

The batch of nitrile I'm going through at the moment are a bit big, to be fair. Do folks find close-fitting ones are better? Has anyone tried anything else in the surgical arsenal?

 

[Edwardking]

What kind of leather gloves? Driving glove types?

Some of us use the free leather gloves you get when you buy a full bee suit - it's kind of a traditional gift from the suit sellers. You can also buy them from the suit sellers, though it have no idea about the cost. There are however beeks who believe you should never wear the free gloves and opt for thin nitrile surgeon-type gloves (cheap, disposable, close fitting - available from the on-line store named after a river). I use both and have no preference - the leather ones have gauntlets and are handy for pruning the roses too.

 

[itma]

... There are however beeks who believe you should never wear the free gloves and opt for thin nitrile surgeon-type gloves (cheap, disposable, close fitting ...

There are many many beekeepers who won't let you visit their apiary wearing leather gloves. Or dirty rubber gloves for that matter.
Leather gloves simply can't be cleaned well enough for disease transmission control.
Disposability is central.
It has nothing to do with 'free'.



Other beekeepers regard those wearing things like welding gloves with scorn.

There is some truth in the idea that glove-created clumsiness angers the bees, who sting the gloves, giving the gauntleted beek the idea that he has to continue wearing armour when dealing with those nasty bees.
And because the leather holds the smell of the sting pheromones, next time, the bees will go for his hands - reinforcing the misapprehension that he definitely needs the 'protection' of his thick gloves!


All that said, such gloves may perhaps have a place when performing a 'cut-out' of a colony that has moved in to an unacceptable location. But they don't help with ordinary beekeeping.

 

[Swarm]

What kind of leather gloves? Driving glove types?

Sherriff do a nice range that are much softer than those freebee gloves, buy a size smaller so they fit tightly.
They can be washed in a soda solution and left to dry, keep them supple with neatsfoot oil. Keep too much propolis and honey off them by wearing disposables over them. Leather will soak up sweat so your hands are not so shrivelled, I could fill a cup from my marigolds.

Nitriles have plenty of downsides, they tear and trying to pull another pair onto sweaty hands will tear quite a few more.

Don't listen to those who tell you that you should not, do what makes you feel confident, that is far more important and you may decide to change later. In the meantime, they are not going to kill your bees by carrying disease, afterall swapping frames at an apiary would probably be better at that, right?

 

[Rahere]

Blow into the nitrile before putting it on, they won't tear then, until they are dunked in soda.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Put a little bit of baby powder in them.

Dusty.