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. Often the bees "go" for the elastic end of the gauntlets, my elbows, or find one of the many holes in the glove-seams which eventually develop. It's always a surprise! As a matter of fact, this summer I can't remember how many times a bee quickly and effortlessly went right into one of the small holes! I mean I ended up ripping the glove off to get away from the bee that got IN! Also, I get a few stings throught the "ventilation" panel in the wrist area. A couple of things, tho'. 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. At one point I was using gloves with the finger tips cut off and this was a pretty good compromise. What is really annoying is to get stung hard on an gloveless finger or hand, and then drop a nice heavy comb on the ground. I have, unfortunately, had this happen. It would have been better to crush an obstructing bee-body with a gloved finger than to drop a bee-covered brood comb! Admittedly, there is a certain satisfaction to be had from remaining constantly receptive to a colony's mood, and being able to successfully handle them without resorting to the clumsiness of gloves.