Flocked green nitrile gloves

01 · WHY NITRILE AND NOT LEATHER

Feel and cleanliness, at the cost of breathability

A leather glove absorbs everything it touches — syrup, honey, propolis, venom — and in time goes stiff and smells. Nitrile has a closed surface: rinse it under the tap and it is as new, and it does not carry from one hive to the next what it soaked up at the last. At 0.38 mm it is thin for a work glove, and that gives real feel in the fingers: you sense the frame, the clip, the queen. The flocked lining is what lets you pull it on and off with a dry hand, without the struggle of smooth gloves. The trade-off, and it is worth knowing: nitrile does not breathe. On hot days the hand ends up soaked, so alternate and do not spend hours on end wearing them.

02 · THE SIZE

The number is your palm circumference in inches

It is the most repeated question and it has a simple answer, because glove sizing is not arbitrary: the number is the palm circumference measured in inches. Take a tape, run it round your hand at the knuckles, excluding the thumb, and divide the centimetres by 2.54 — the rounded result is your number. For reference: S (7) ≈ 18 cm · M (8) ≈ 20 cm · L (9) ≈ 23 cm · XL (10) ≈ 25 cm. If you fall between two, go up a size: a tight glove pulls at the knuckles, splits there first, and with a flocked lining is hard to get on.

03 · THE CHEMICAL SIDE

Certified does not mean resistant to everything

The manufacturer's sheet classes it as a category III glove under EN 388, EN ISO 374-1 and EN ISO 374-5. It is worth understanding what that does and does not mean: those standards certify behaviour against the specific substances that were tested, at their concentration and for their time. They do not make it a universal glove. Before handling an acid, a disinfectant or a treatment, identify the substance, concentration, temperature and expected contact time and consult the glove's current table — which is particularly relevant with the acids used in beekeeping. And it offers no thermal protection: it is not for molten wax or hot surfaces.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

It is reusable, which is why it needs checking: look for cuts, punctures and hardened areas before every use — a perforated glove has stopped being a glove. Wash and dry it after working, especially if you have handled product. And an honest qualification: its closed surface is a useful barrier in routine handling, but it does not guarantee freedom from stings.