Golden Bee Suit Gloves

[magnet-man]

OK, I need to know if everyone really likes the rubber gloves that come with the suit. They seem like they would be hot and that leather gloves would be better.

[Sundance]

I thought they were OK. The lining came out
fairly quick and rendered them useless after
less than 10 times worn. They are hot, and
sweaty. I honestly don't think the small
patch of mesh does much for me.

MM...... would you like me to send you one??

I sure would like to see a glove made on the
mesh in a much larger amount. Perhaps stiched
to a leather glove in that the back of the
glove would be all mesh and the palm and
bottom of the fingers goatskin.

Or one made of all mesh and the palm and
underside of the fingers "dipped" in that
rubber stuff you see on other gloves, you
know, the blue ones.....

[magnet-man]

Thanks Bruce but I have a pair. They don't really seem to be suited to beekeeping.

I am not sure that I am going to offer gloves as part of the suit. I don't think leather gloves are so hot that the added cost of ventilaton would be worth it. There is a lot of labor to take the back of a glove out and re-sew it. I would think it would add an extra $10 to the price. Is it worth an extra $10?

[Ishi]

2 things I would like to see a pocket for a hive tool for a left hander and loops for your thumbs on the sleeve

[Sundance]

"They don't really seem to be suited to beekeeping."

No they are not. And the mesh made the only
thing they'd be good for a no go. Dish washing.


"Is it worth an extra $10?"

I'd pay it. I think with the whole back off
it would add true ventilation. My hands are
sweat machines!! I have to lift my hands up
and drain the gloves down my elbows.

[Beemaninsa]

The GB gloves are poor. Lining comes out and the gloves get holes quickly. Leather gloves are cooler and more durable. I would not want to spend $10 extra for a back of hand vent unless it really made a big difference. I doubt it would make a big difference.

[Michael Palmer]

>"They don't really seem to be suited to beekeeping."

But, are any gloves suited to beekeeping?

I decided long ago, that gloves weren't for me. They're clumsy, and retain sting pheromones...increasing the sting incidence. I get stung way less without them. Most stings on your forearms and hands can be wiped off, as the bee sting never sticks.

Also, if you are wearing so much protection as to never get stung, then I believe it dangerous to your health. By being exposed to bee venom...on your clothes and gloves...without actually being stung, you don't develop an immunity to bee venom. In fact, you develop the wrong kind of anti-bodies. This can lead to allergy. For instance...members of beekeeping families, who don't receive periodic stings, develop allergy at a rate far higher than the general public. According to my daughter's allergist...she almost died from a bee sting...says that the general public has 1 in 100-200 chance of developing allergy to bee stings. Beekeeping family members are 1 in 10!

So, put the gloves away. Use them only for emergency situations, ie. when a colony is too hot to handle. Also, don't expose your family to bee venom, if they aren't being stung regularly. This means...wash your own bee clothes, change your clothes before holding your children on your lap, and don't let your kids ride in the bee truck...unless they receive regular stings.

I know this might sound severe, but if you don't want to see your child turn cherry red from a sting, and pass out before your very eyes...believe it!

[George Fergusson]

>So, put the gloves away. Use them only for emergency situations, ie. when a colony is too hot to handle.

My first year of keeping bees I made tentative efforts to go gloveless. My second year started out with me being a whole lot more relaxed with the girls and I didn't wear gloves at all until oh, around the first of August when the late summer dearth arrived and the bees got cranky. There were a few hives that I continued to work all summer and into the fall without gloves. For that matter, there was one hive, a swarm that I caught in late June that was.. well I wouldn't call them hot, perhaps "high spirited" is the proper term. When I opened that hive, smoke or no smoke when I passed my hand over the hive, the bees shot out, bouncing off my hands and veil like little bullets. I didn't really mind, I just wore gloves. Not a lot of stings, but a whole lot of head butting going on.

I think it's important for newbees to wear whatever gear they need to in order to feel comfortable and at ease with the bees. When I realized that the bees, with judicious use of smoke and when the weather was nice and there was a flow of some sort going on, were disinclined to sting as long as I was gentle, not in a hurry, and considerate.

I also used my Ephipany, for Beekeepers, a salve made of finely ground up hard red propolis, olive oil, and beeswax. A dab of that rubbed into your hands and arms makes you smell enough like a beehive so the bees tend not to sting. It also smells neat.

Working bees without gloves is a real pleasure. A few stings are inevitable. That's part of beekeeping.

>Also, don't expose your family to bee venom, if they aren't being stung regularly. This means...wash your own bee clothes...

Hadn't thought of that!

[Michael Bush]

>OK, I need to know if everyone really likes the rubber gloves that come with the suit. They seem like they would be hot and that leather gloves would be better.

They are hot and leather gloves are better. I wore them until they ripped out to give them a fair chance. After that I wore regular buckskin (or doeskin) leather gloves tucked into the sleeves.

[Michael Palmer]

>I think it's important for newbees to wear whatever gear they need to in order to feel comfortable and at ease with the bees.

Of course...you're right, George.

[JohnK and Sheri]

I have small hands and have a hard time finding any gloves that fit. The beeglove suppliers always seem to think small means fingers 2" long for some reason, lol. For years I sewed nylon gauntlets on doeskin gloves, until I found the leather ones from Betterbee fit me fairly well.
I would not pay extra for a pair of gloves on this suit and feel I can better supply my own fit.
Sheri

[BULLSEYE BILL]

I've had two pairs of the gloves that came with my two suits. I asked them to not send the second pair for a reduction in the price of the suit, they declined. :(

If you stretch them the lining comes loose. If you pinch them you will rip a hole in them. If you get propolis on them they will stick to themselves in a very annoying manner.

That said, most of my bee hours are spent on doing cut-outs from April 1 to mid Sep. Leather gloves will not cut that kind of work. Leather getting sopping wet in honey and the washing will ruin them quick. I use the chemical resistant gloves from the paint department at Lowe's exclusively. They cost about five bucks per pair, fit my hands well, are durable and dexterous.

The only real problem is the gloves getting wet and dirty inside and becoming a bed of bacteria. I am very careful to pitch them as soon as they start looking and smelling bad, usually in about two weeks, sometimes less. I still have a finger that was badly infected through a dirty glove that is still not right after two and a half years. :( So pitching a bacteria filled gloves is pretty easy for me with that constant reminder.

Now, to MM's question. I'd pay even more for a chemical resistant glove with a copious amount of breathable material sewn on the backside of the glove.

I'd suggest that you offer them as an accessory item. I would not be interested in a leather glove. I have a couple of pairs that I bought years ago that never get used, mainly because they get hard and stiff, that makes them not only difficult to wear, but takes away most of the feeling and dexterity.

[MichelleB]

I'd be interested in mesh gauntlets. Since I clean my gloves far more frequently than I do my suit, I'd expect them to wear out faster.

I'd hate to have a mesh suit, and cover up the arms with canvas (i.e. standard gloves or gauntlets). I haven't considered the leather part of the goatskin gloves to be so hot they were a problem.

And since some folks use different gloves different times of year (if they use them at all) they can use their gauntlets.

And Shari, I hear you--I have fairly large hands for a lady, yet the "small" goatskin gloves I've found are still too big. And forget about finding gloves for young ones, who--if anybody--would want well-fitting gloves to be comfortable around and gentle with the bees. So I've had to resort to tiny gardening gloves with canvas gauntlets for my young assistants, and for my own backup when my gloves got too messy.

[magnet-man]

I took my son down to Lowe's and found a pair of ladies leather gloves for him. The fingers were too long. I turned them inside out, sewed the tips and trimmed off the extra.