A newbie (3 years) myself, I always try to work gloveless, for reasons
already cited here. Makes me more careful and I squash fewer bees. I always
keep the gloves in my back pocket, just in case.

I've had much more success since reading Tom Sanford's Tao of Smoking piece
in the APIS newsletter a couple of months back. Now I typically smoke the
entrance, wait 2 minutes, loosen the cover enough to smoke a little up top,
wait another minute, and then proceed.

I also find that happy bees, gathering nectar on a warm day, don't much
seem to notice intrusions. Screening up entrances at night for a recent
move I found the same bees very very nasty.

Greg

______________________________________________________________
Greg Hankins                    Seven Lakes Times, L.L.C.
[log in to unmask]                 P.O. Box 602
Voice: (910)673-0111            1008 Seven Lakes Drive
Fax: (910)673-0210              Seven Lakes, NC 27376