Hi guys,
Has anyone sourced leather bee gloves that have a ‘thin finger’ design? The gloves I have tried to date lose so much dexterity due to the overwidth girth of the fingers.
I am not planning to go gloveless.
Thanks in advance !
Kitchen gloves worked well for me for many years. You need the ones that come up your arm a bit.
As @JeffH has said Karen, long kitchen gloves with a rubber band at the top is worth trying, the cow hide gloves are like wearing boxing gloves and trying to dial a number on a mobile phone, a real dead loss.
I have thin goat skin gloves that I use if the bees are on the hot side but more often I work without them and using smoke I make a better job of it with less cases of the fumbles. Use smoke as needed, work slow and smooth.
Cheers
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I wore kid gloves at the hive but they got holes in super short time and generally not reliable
Doing normal farm type work I found work gloves so cumbersome I did not wear them. As a result I got cuts, scratches and all sorts of abrasions.
I was put onto Ansell Hyflex gloves and bought some through Amazon. There is quite a large range but I have the cut resistant ones (product No 11-816) and now have them in my pocket all the time. They are tactile and you can actually feel near as well as no gloves. I use them at the hive, where the only draw back is they stop at the wrist so you need watch there is no entry point.
Highly recommended.
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Thanks for that Wilfred, I might try a pair and see how they go on a day the girls are playing up on me. A shame they are short but if they are good in other respects Ansell might consider making a longer pair for bee keepers if they know there is a market for them. If we don’t ask they don’t know.
Cheers
I was talking with a commercial guy the other week and he was using rubber gloves but had cut the tip off. Protected his hand but left just the tip of his finger and finger nail exposed. He said because of the finger nail and finger pad where hard you don’t get stung.
I was going to try them.
https://shop.coles.com.au/a/dianella/product/ansell-super-gloves-large
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Thanks @AdamMaskew @Peter48 @busso @JeffH appreciate the help. 
I’ll give some kitchen gloves another go. Cutting out the finger tips is a great idea too. I will think about that one. 
My girls are normally ok but they did sting me once intentionally on the hand when I initially started out gloveless.
On a slight side note, I am reluctant to work the girls with any skin exposed. I have systemically reacted a couple of times to bee stings so I am very cautious now. The last couple of bee stings have been ok though. I keep accidentally stepping on bees with bare feet, it has taken me 3 stings to learn to wear footwear when outside!!
I was pleased when receiving the instructions with the Flow Hive super that they are really clear on safety/Anaphylaxis. We have Epipens nearby at all times and the bees can only be worked when there is a safety person home, just in case.
A few years ago my husband was stung while riding his motorcycle, with no previous history of reacting to bee stings he went into anaphylaxis within 5 minutes. Luckily he was right near the hospital at the time and he rode straight to emergency and passed out in the doorway. It can happen that fast and with no prior history. Since then he has undergone desensitisation and is now fine with bee stings. The epipens will always be near though!
But we are both quite happy to sit by the hives and have cuppas. The girls are interesting to watch. 
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If you have to use an epi-pen call for an ambulance straight away as well. My off-sider 18 months ago had been stung previously with no issues but she got just a single sting that day and fell within about 20 seconds, I hit her with 2 epi-pens 30 seconds apart and rang for an ambulance. Had to apply CPR till the ambo’s arrived with a doctor on board. No heart beat and couldn’t breath on her own, clinically she had passed away. Adrenaline injected into her heart brought her back. Just a warning Karen, sometimes an epi-pen just isn’t enough. Amazing thing is we had finished for the day and stripped off and having a chat and debriefing 75 meters from the hives when just one bee decided to come in hard and fast out of the blue and sting.
Cheers
Wow you’ve had a few interesting experiences Peter. I hope she is now ok?
The bees certainly have a mind of their own who they are going to sting. My hubby used to say the bees were ‘out to get him’ (which I said was a load of crap). But I saw it once, we were out on an oval, with a whole group of us and a bee flew right by me to land on his hand and sting him. Never seen anything like it before.
He has made peace with home bees now and reckons our hives like him. 
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Lysa is fine now, went thru a desensitization treatment. She knows now that after such a bad episode she can’t get back into bee keeping, the risk is too great but I often get a phone to chat bees. That is good for her, we clicked so well at the hives she was usually a step or two in front of me and knowing what was needed before I spoke.
I’ve had a mixed life but really enjoy my time at the apiary, I find it really relaxing and so interesting. Always something interesting and learning something new. There is always some to make you wonder about. I think I was so lucky that 47 years ago I had a neighbor that was a commercial bee keeper who needed a hand and in return took the time to introduce to to bee keeping and a whole new world and out look on life opened up to me.
Cheers
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What about leather riding gloves?
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Something like this?
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Black (or any dark color) is not a good idea - bees often view black as a hostile color and will sting it. I have video footage of bees going nuts trying to sting a black security camera near one of my hives… 
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They probably have a similar thing in a different color at other companies. Just the same idea.
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Might explain why they go for my head of hair… I have dark coloured hair… (with specks of grey I might add)… maybe in my older age, they’ll leave my head alone…
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Nitrile gloves. Bees cannot sting through them and they fit tight just like latex or vinyl.
You can get a large pack of them at auto parts stores or home improvement stores and they’re about $15.
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I completely understand your frustration with bee gloves that lack dexterity. As someone who works with bees, it’s important to have gloves that provide adequate protection but also allow you to handle delicate tasks. Have you considered using finger cots in combination with your bee gloves? Finger cots are small latex or nitrile covers that go over individual fingers and are great for enhancing grip and tactile sensitivity. They are commonly used in medical settings, but they can also be useful for beekeeping.
You can check out cots from https://harmonycr.com/finger-cots - these are the best I’ve used. They really do make a diffrence.
P.S. Sorry for the late reply
I’m on the lookout for leather gloves with a ‘thin finger’ design. The gloves I’ve tested so far seem to sacrifice dexterity because of their overly wide finger construction. Going without gloves isn’t on my agenda, so any recommendations or pointers would be greatly appreciated.