>>When you enter a hive  without smoke many times you quickly get a few stings to your suit.

One of the drawbacks of a bee suit - unless you wash it often, the odor of stings from a previous inspection puts bees on guard.  I wear shorts and a T-shirt unless is hot (then the T-shirt comes off). :)

I may light up the smoker, if there is no flow, and keep it to the side.  Its practical function for me really is to drive the bees in between the frames when putting the hive bodies back on so as not to squash bees by the dozen.

Waldemar
     

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