Joel Govostes wrote:
 
>Gloves - use them or don't?  I must admit that I do, regularly.  Shame on
>me.  About the only situations when I don't are when I am working on weak
>colonies or nuc's.
>
>I'm not sure when I started using them again on a regular basis.  I do know
>that I still get stung. .....  When you are restricted to working bees only at
>certain times, and you can't control the weather, gloves can make otherwise
>unmanageable manipulations "do-able."  And you don't end up with propolis
>all over your fingers.  You can often work a little faster as well.
>
>Beyond that, gloves will hang on to the venom-scent and I'm convinced this
>can get otherwise-agreeable bees riled.  ......
 
******
 
   I virtually never use gloves.  If one does not have much hair on the
hands, attacking bees almost always alight but do not grip hard.  Also, I
feel Joel is correct, "...gloves will hang on to the venom-scent..."  For
instance, a beekeeper helped me once on my research project, at which time
we found the bees especially testy.  Then I asked him about the strong odor
on his gloves, to which he responded that he used them when applying
BEE-GO.  Benzaldehyde in small doses certainly does not placate bees!
 
   One way around odor retention on gloves is to use disposable surgical
gloves for fine work (as I have posted on this net before). They cost only
a couple of cents apiece.  The bees don't seem to be able to get a good
enough grip on the latex to push their stingers through and into the skin.
 
******
 
   I ALWAYS remove my watch (and any shiny objects) before working bees.
If one looks at a Casio watch from a bee's perspective, for instance, one
may recognize a little black head with two shiny bright eyes --- a likely
predator.  No wonder so many people get stung in the area near the watch!
 
   And, of course, watch bands concentrate sweat odor.
 
                                                                Adrian
 
Adrian M. Wenner                         (805) 893-2838 (UCSB office)
Ecol., Evol., & Marine Biology           (805) 893-8062  (UCSB FAX)
Univ. of Calif., Santa Barbara           (805) 963-8508 (home office & FAX)
Santa Barbara, CA  93106
 
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