Some hives DO require protective clothing---their bees are just nasty
customers.  I remember one that you could *hear* the difference the
minute you took the cover off.  Good old #4 at the Cal Poly lower bee
yard.  We kinda kept hoping to find something wrong, so we could justify
getting rid of these guys...  Requeened to a more mellow strain, the next
year.  Everyone got stung by the bees in #4...
 
However, approaching hives from the rear, and moving s-l-o-w-l-y and not
smooshing bees (hard!), you can do it.  And you have to be completely
mellow.  When I was a kid, I was known as "the girl who picks up bees"
because I was always carrying around some honeybee or bumblebee, so this
isn't hard for me.  Bees can smell your biochemistry if you are afraid of
them, and those folks should always suit up.  I *do* cover my hair with a
ski hood, mostly because bees that get caught in your hair get distressed,
and buzz rather alarmingly, and are beastly hard to get loose from your
hair...  I've found you should also *never* work a hive if you're hot and
sweaty.  Sweat makes them agressive.  If it's midsummer, shower just before
going out, and then rub yourself with honey water on your sweat-points and
dry off all moisture.
 
  --Jane Beckman   [[log in to unmask]]