Safety Gloves Bee Gloves

Unless you're just starting out in beekeeping, BeeCARE doesn't recommend you always wear gloves when you are working the hives.  However, gloves are needed if you have aggressive bees or are especially sensitive to stings.  After you have become experienced with your bees and with handling hive components, do without the gloves if you can.  Wearing bee gloves can make it harder to maintain a firm grip on frames as you are lifting and inspecting them, therefore making it easier to drop the frame!  Gloves are generally clumsy to work with, so you drop things more easily and lack the ability to manipulate objects (like frames, tools, etc.) like you should.  Wearing gloves also makes it much easier to kill bees while you are handling the hive woodenware, since you can't feel them through the gloves.

Bee gloves prevent bees from stinging your hands (usually) and keep them from crawling up inside your sleeves.  They are usually made with leather hand coverings and canvas or cotton forearm coverings, with ventilation on the forearm.  Sometimes, the entire glove is canvas and cotton, but get leather if you can, as it is more sting-resistant.