Many experienced beekeepers go without gloves and for good reason— they are cumbersome! These beekeepers trade comfort and dexterity for the occasional sting. But, if you are a new beekeeper or in an Africanized Honey Bee zone, you are probably in for more than just an occasional sting. Personally, I rarely work without gloves. So, if you are going to wear gloves, what kind of gloves are best? Read on to find out my preferences and advice.
Size and fit
One of the most common mistakes I see new beekeepers make is purchasing gloves that are much too big for them. This is especially true for women. Your gloves should fit your hands snugly. You should not have a ton of overhang at the tip of your fingers. If your gloves are too big, they will get caught underframes and make it difficult for you to inspect your hives. The tighter your gloves fit, the more dexterity you will have, but there is a tradeoff, snug gloves are easier for bees to sting through. Usually though, when a bee stings through the glove, it is not quite as bad as a normal sting. I call them “micro stings” because the stinger may not get all the way through. Whenever possible, buy your gloves from a local shop, that way you can try them on.
Material
Leather gloves
Beekeeping gloves are usually made of cow leather or goat leather. Cow leather is thicker than goat leather and will have more protection from stings, but less range of motion. Thicker leather will also mean less sensitivity: it’s harder to feel when you are accidentally placing your finger on a bee, for example. For this reason, I prefer goat leather. It provides reasonable protection, while still allowing some sensitivity. My current favorite is the XS from Walter T. Kelley.
Nitrile gloves
Last summer, I got a cut on my finger that became infected from wearing my beekeeping gloves so often. It is not uncommon for me to work bees every day in the spring and summer, and my leather gloves become very hard to keep clean. I ended up switching to disposable nitrile gloves and now, I am not sure I can go back to the leather.
Surprisingly, I have found that I get less stings with nitrile gloves than I did with leather gloves. Even though the gloves are thinner, the bees don’t seem to realize they can sting through them. I also enjoy the increased dexterity and sensitivity. I can even feel the heat from the beehive through them! The cons are that they are disposable. I really dislike how much trash I am making. However, I try to offset this by saving them, washing them, and wearing them again. They can last quite awhile.
Some beekeepers like to use dish gloves for this reason. Although they are thicker, the benefits are similar and they have more longevity. Another issue with nitrile or dish gloves is that they do not breathe like leather ones do and they will make your hands very sweaty. That might be a dealbreaker for some of you, I have grown used to it. My current favorites are these long-cuff nitrile glove in size medium from Amazon. Check out my article all about the pros and cons of using nitrile gloves over on my blog by clicking here.
Transitioning to gloveless
If your goal is to eventually be able to work your hives without gloves, you can transition yourself by switching your glove type. Start with leather gloves, which will give the most protection while you are a new beekeeping and still learning how to handle your bees. Once you feel you have a sense of how to keep your bees calm while you inspect then, you can switch to nitrile. This will provide moderate protection and give you peace of mind while you work towards taking off your gloves completely. Eventually, you can begin testing the waters by starting out your hive inspection with gloves on and then taking them off part way through. This will allow you to judge the temperament of your hive before removing the gloves. Remember, a colony’s behavior can change from day-to-day. Just because they were gentle during your last inspection, doesn’t mean they will be for the next. That’s why I always bring a pair of gloves in my pocket, even if I don’t plan on wearing them.
For more on staying safe while beekeeping, check out 8 Tips for Beekeeping Safety.
17 Comments
Good article – but I think you missed the most important aspect of using the thinnest gloves possible (or going gloveless): when you maximize the sensitivity in your fingers, you will go slower and be gentler with the bees. Doing this will cause the bees to be gentler back to you. After all, if you don’t accidentally squish a bee, you will have less of the alarm pheromone in the air. Thin gloves (or gloveless) allow you to feel when you put your fingers on a bee before putting pressure down.
Thanks for spelling it out, Chris. I guess I thought this was the obvious reason why you would want the better dexterity. I forget how rough people can be with their bees.
Have you tried doubling up on the Nitrile gloves?
Yes, when I am doing a bee removal I often do this.
Rusty, you can buy thin cotton glove liners at Amazon that are washable/disposable that keep the sweat in check! I tried it last year and wouldn’t go without them now!
Thanks for the tip! This isn’t Rusty though. This is Hilary. I write the blog “Beekeeping Like A Girl”.
Thanks for your article! I struggle to find beekeeping clothes that fit me as a woman too. I have super small hands, and even the extra small gloves leave me with awkward extra length and reduced dexterity, but I’m not quite ready to go gloveless yet. I’ll check out your recommendations.
We like nitrile and always wear 2 layers, as they prick easily on hive tool or metal covers…but we have switched over to using Mr. Clean dish gloves. They are very durable, washable, and if a bee stings them, she pulls out before stinger gets into our skin! They are inexpensive, readily available and provide a good grip on things. We usually will put a nitrile under them, just for sweat purposes…otherwise the dish gloves can get pretty stinky pretty fast. They come in several sizes. Just don’t get the purple ones…I love purple. Got a lot more stings. LOL
I am a bee keeper in Suriname and I find this kind of information very helpful
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Great post. We also like the Nitrile gloves and have found that wearing them over a pair of cotton work gloves (as thin as possible) is a good compromise for some thickness and absorbing sweat.
This is a very interesting story! I use Nitrile gloves for almost everything. Cold weather and hot! They are quite tough!
Nitrile gloves come in different thicknesses-the basic is 4ml but I tend to use 5 or 7 or 9 ml depending on my need for the project. with the 7 ml I still have lots of sensitivity, With the 9ml it is a little less but nothing like normal gloves.
I like the 6mm flock lined Nitrile gloves. It may sound crazy, but the painter’s supply store I get mine from ran out of most gloves last time I was in there, so I bought a box of black 6mm flock lined gloves. I usually buy blue. I’ve used the black ones almost a year without a sting on my hands. Does anyone know if the color of glove matters, or is this pure chance?
When I first started beekeeping in 2003, I wore leather gloves, but found them too hard to work with, so when I had got more confident, went gloveless. Sure, got a few stings, but frames weren’t slipping out of my fingers. At times still use softer( flexible) gloves, if bees get stroppy or working on other people’s hives. Still use the leather ones on the odd occasions as they go nearly right up my arm, so bees can’t find anyway onto bare skin to leave their calling card..
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Thanks for this article. We live in S Fl, so definitely in the Afridcan-derived-bees zone. Some days our bees are pretty gentle, other days they can be assertive. I never go gloveless, and have had bees sting me right through the leather gloves. My hands are pretty small, and the mediums are too big, but the smalls are too tight. I will try the nitrile ones and see if having less bulk helps. I’m not worried about getting stung but the only thing is, once the first bee stings me, then the rest start to follow suit and sometimes the only way to stop it is to go inside and change out my gloves. I also wonder if the color has anything to do with it? If the blue are less noticable to the bees than the white is? Or perhaps they can smell the leather but the plastic doesn’t smell like an animal? I wonder if this would be a research grant! LOL
I too have moved to nitrile gloves and really liked the Halyard Health 50602 Safeskin Nitrile-Xtra Exam Gloves, 12″ Length that you linked to. Unfortunately those gloves have been unavailable on Amazon since last spring (Covid-19 related no doubt) and I can’t find them anywhere else. Do you or does anyone else have a source?