Thick rubber stingfree gloves?

[merylvingien]

Does anyone know of a supplier of thick rubber gloves that would prevent stings from penetrating?

My mentor insists that i stop using the usual leather type and switch over to washing up type, but i aint doing that! I have had more than several stings to my gloves already and i am not going to risk poxy washing up gloves...

So any pointers would be good, keywords here are THICK ARMOR PLATED lol

 

[Mike a]

Try two pairs of marigolds or you could look for the extra thick rubber gardening gloves but they only have short sleeves covering the wrist area which shouldn't be a problem if your jacket has those thumb loops.

man or mouse ?

I squeak every time

 

[merylvingien]

You laugh, but i am dealing with stinging things all bloody day long, i dont want my hobby to become like my job LOL

5mm thick should do LOL

 

[Mike a]

You laugh, but i am dealing with stinging things all bloody day long, i dont want my hobby to become like my job LOL

5mm thick should do LOL

Do worry I'm not laugh at you but with you. I do my best not to get stung and I wear the same leather gauntlets but only when I'm at my own apiary doing inspections. When I go to other peoples apiary's and I'm not touching bees or frames I wear those see through surgical type gloves.

 

[Roy S]

Tell your mentor to shove certain parts of his naked anatomy in the middle of the next open hive he comes across.
People doing things like that make my blood boil, I for one would have something to say to your mentor!!! If you are nervous with your bees it will make you far more prone to making mistakes and bad handling anyway, not to mention remove all enjoyment for you.
I normally used marigold type gloves but since my little escapade with a bad reaction, I'm now having to use thick gloves/gauntlets, but I dont think my beekeeping has suffered from it.

He shouldnt be dictating to you what you wear.

 

[Rosti]

Glove selection and use

I have been through this myself in my first year. I also have thin wrists for my height so getting a seal at the wrist has been difficult.

I think your mentor is right in that leather gloves are:
1. so thick that you have no feeling
2. are a porous surface that allows you to build up propolis and soiling
3. an easy cross contamination vector between hives / sites
4. in real terms uncleanable

The best compromise I have found is the Marigold garden glove. It is black (on the outside) and is thicker than their normal gloves by a long way. I have direct experience of having been caught in an unexpected stinging attack (see separate thread) and these gloves did protect very effectively.

Several observations though.
1. Ideally you should not wear black gloves (resembles bears paws to gets the girls going). YOU CAN TURN THESE GLOVES INSIDE OUT AND WEAR THEM - THE INSIDE IS WHITE! (Thank Hivemaker for that pear of wisdom)

2. If like me you have thin wrists this style of glove does not make a good seal because the 'cuffs are relatively big. Use an old pair of white sports socks as gauntlets to seal the join between gloves and suit (I think that came from Grizzly or/both Somerfield). Dont use sweat bands to make a seal, as I tried, bees get caught and you get a sting, pheromone, attract, sting cycle going (not the reason for the original attack, but did not help once it was underway).

3. Or you can do what I have now done. Unpick the canvas gauntlet section from your old leather gloves. Stitch elastic into the unpicked 'wrist end' You now have gauntlets you can wear over your arms that seal the gloves but give you all the benefits of rubber, with the forearm protection of the traditional leather.

4. Home territory now! Remember to scrub the gloves well and frequently. Spore formers will endure on any gloves for many days moving into weeks /months/years! if in a temperate (uk) climate. Whilst an alcohol hand wash wont meaningfully reduce spore loadings it will kill sub leathally damaged spores and will give a general 2 log reduction of broad spectrum vegetatitive microbiological flora loadings - so make that the last stage of your clean, only effective when organic loadings have been reduced to a minimum - all to the good from a hygiene perspective. Rubber / nitrile lets you do that, leather simply does not.

EDIT: The obvious thing to do here is use the Marigold inside out and then a thin nitrile over it if you are at some elses apiary of know you are dealing with infected stock, simply throw the nitrile - personal protection and biosecurity.

And if they get too dirty? £1.69 at Morrisons (currently on 2 for 1!) rather than £15-20 for leather. R

 

[Brian Bush]

Hi I use a pair of nitrile(purple surgical gloves) provided by my sister, a rep. Over these I wear a pair of blue marigold flock lined gloves I buy on the internet. Sometime the little blighters can even penetrate this but the sting never stays in and the venom dose is negligable. I tried two pairs of nitrile but found them a little too restricting. Be warned, after Saturday's inspection of 12 hives I could pour the sweat from the gloves and had hands like wrinkled prunes.

 

[Haughton Honey]

Be warned, after Saturday's inspection of 12 hives I could pour the sweat from the gloves and had hands like wrinkled prunes.

Haha. Seconded!

After my inspection on Sunday, even wearing shorts and a t-shirt under my kit I looked like I'd been swimming with my clothes on!

(sorry to go slightly off-topic)

 

[Polyanwood]

I agree. When you are learning, it is especially important to wear thin gloves or no gloves. If you handle the bees very sensitively, i.e. don't squash them, they don't usually start stinging. Once the sting pheromone is in the air they get increasingly feisty.

We also all need to be working towards keeping nicer bees. I don't let my students wear leather gloves - they are handling my bees and I want to help them learn. For the nervous ones, they start off with marigolds, but those that stick with marigolds progress less quickly than the others.

 

[SER]

I have just started wearing these when necessary http://www.modernbeekeeping.co.uk/item/55/beekeeping-rubber-gloves-with-gauntlet I think they are great.

Si

 

[fatshark]

2. If like me you have thin wrists this style of glove does not make a good seal because the 'cuffs are relatively big. Use an old pair of white sports socks as gauntlets to seal the join between gloves and suit (I think that came from Grizzly or/both Somerfield).

Or use elastic bands doubled over the wrist - even less for the bees to get caught up in ... we have post delivered at work and the postie leaves loads of strong elastic bands that are perfect for this purpose

--
fatshark

 

[Cazza]

I use two pairs of marigold type gloves (from sainsburys) with the thicker pair underneath and rubber bands on the wrists when I know there'll be trouble, otherwise a single thickish pair. I've not been stung yet this season.(Fingers crossed touch wood, why did I say that outloud?) I can still "feel" all i need.
Cazza

 

[rae]

I agree. When you are learning, it is especially important to wear thin gloves or no gloves. If you handle the bees very sensitively, i.e. don't squash them, they don't usually start stinging. Once the sting pheromone is in the air they get increasingly feisty.

To be honest, I don't see gloves as the problem here. I use the Thornes kid leather gloves, which provide very good sensitivity, but "bee quashing" is nearly always when you're putting the hive back together and one of the little blighters nips up on the edge of the box in the last minute. I don't think I've ever squashed a bee in my gloves, I suppose if I was using welding gauntlets or similar, then I probably would start squashing them.

I've been stung once through the Thornes gloves on the back of the hand.

Point taken on infection control, but I'm only operating in my own apiary.

 

[BKF Admin]

I use the Thornes kid gloves.
Last year I used up 3 pairs as they got covered in layers of Propolis and went hard.

This year I purchased 4 box's of extra large lightly powdered latex gloves off Fleabay to go over the top and the gloves are as good as new underneath.

I use the latex gloves once and then bin them.

 

[Roy S]

I use the Thornes kid gloves.
Last year I used up 3 pairs as they got covered in layers of Propolis and went hard.

This year I purchased 4 box's of extra large lightly powdered latex gloves off Fleabay to go over the top and the gloves are as good as new underneath.

I use the latex gloves once and then bin them.

Same as I do now, I am slightly horrified by the people INSISTING on newcomers to the craft wearing thin or NO gloves??...do you get them to sign a disclaimer that absolves you of any responsibility towards their health while you're at it?

Do you question them about any medications they may be taking before they go through any colonies?...if not then this could be a can of worms, especially the way "If theres a blame theres a claim" sections of society seem to be working.

I have seen people wearing all types of glove and while people wearing no gloves "learn" how to avoid squashing bees with their fingers, I've also seen the same people drop complete frames of bees with catastrophic results when suddenly stung on the hands.

An experienced beekeeper has put of a lot of new beekeepers in a neighbouring society off beekeeping with his insistance that they wear nitrile gloves at most!!!..some of these same beekeepers have gone on to make excellent beekeepers when they have felt comfortable in thicker gloves. In fact some of them now use the nitrile or no gloves as a result of their gained confidence.

I think the first rule is "BE COMFORTABLE...AND SAFE!"

No one has ANY right to say what a beekeeper can or cant wear, if they want to go through colonies with you get them to wear disposale gloves over the top of their current gloves as admin and I do ...simple

If you are worried about them squashing bees then just tell them that. I'm sure they will understand.

I'd like to wager that I squash no more bees with my leather gloves on than I do with nitrile ones, but at present I'm taking no chances for anyone thanks very much!!!

 

[rae]

Last year I used up 3 pairs as they got covered in layers of Propolis and went hard.

Ah, I have the answer. Wear the gloves, wash you hands in the sink with soap, don't drench the gloves, but wash lightly. Hang up to dry - they seem fine. If they start to harden, I find that rubbing in some unscented moisturiser solves the problem and doesn't bother the bees.

 

[Rosti]

I am slightly horrified by the people INSISTING on newcomers to the craft wearing thin or NO gloves??...do you
I think the first rule is "BE COMFORTABLE...AND SAFE!"

I agree, getting stung when you can prevent it is not macho, it is not sympathetic to the bees (because you will unavoidaably become agitated) it is fool hardy! ... and whats more it's no fun. This is an enjoyable hobby for most not some form of tribal initiation ceremony.

 

[Polyanwood]

You can insist people don't wear thick gloves if they are handling your bees -especially if you are not charging them for the pleasure!

My experience is that people who squash bees get stung more and once bees start getting squashed, anyone in the area is at risk of being stung. I think thick gloves put the bees and the beekeepers and others more at risk.

Also if you don't keep bad tempered bees, even if they go queenless or the flow stops and they get grumpy, they don't turn into stingers. I am not macho. I am not even that brilliant at handling bees... it is a learning curve isn't it.....but as I have got fussier about only keeping gentle bees and have been mroe careful not to squash bees, beekeeping has become calm, calm calm and stings are rare.

 

[Roy S]

You can insist people don't wear thick gloves if they are handling your bees -especially if you are not charging them for the pleasure!

But what would your reaction be if one of these people then keeled over in front of you, as I did a couple of weeks ago, then say that it was your fault because you had insisted they didnt wear what they thought was appropriate protection?

Not being diliberately awkward, just giving you a scenario that could very easily happen.

If you arent comfortable with the way people dress around your bees maybe you need to go through other peoples colonies with them?

Providing people take sensible hygiene precautions, I have no problem with new beekeepers going through my colonies. They will soon find out if they are squashing bees, thicker gloves dont give invincibility! (And I'd shout at them!)

Also if you don't keep bad tempered bees, even if they go queenless or the flow stops and they get grumpy, they don't turn into stingers. I am not macho. I am not even that brilliant at handling bees... it is a learning curve isn't it.....but as I have got fussier about only keeping gentle bees and have been mroe careful not to squash bees, beekeeping has become calm, calm calm and stings are rare.

EVERY colony has potential to turn into a dangerous stinging mass of bees, for reasons sometimes totally inknown to us. People who think this can be stopped are in my experience just waiting to be humbled.

If anything colonies like this are the ones that cause the most problems, with safety becoming lax, or complacent. The beekeeper who has had them for years comes along just to look at the entrance to see how they are doing, or lifting the roof to look at the feeder etc, and gets the worst attack of their lives.

Trust me the only thing predictable about bees, is that they are unpredictable!

 

[SixFooter]

B&Q do some thick rubber gauntlets. I have some which I use now and again.