I have been a beekeeper for more than 30 years and I have never believed that old story about bees "thinking" the hive is on fire. Impossible to prove, anyway. If the bees are loading up to abandon the hive, how come even when you smoke the heck out of them, they don't leave the hive? 

I suggest most beekeepers would agree that smoke really stupefies the bees, clouds their senses, and interferes with the odor system in the hive, by which internal hive activities are regulated.

In my article in the American Bee Journal I describe the many layers of scent communication via pheromones that goes on inside a normal hive. 

I believe they are intoxicated by smoke. They lose their "senses" and just start eating as much honey as they can hold, which makes them even more stupefied. Pretty much, smoked bees act like they are "stoned". 

However, I am sure bees respond to the scent of fear. They also seem to react badly to certain perfumes. And of course, the smell of venom and the alarm odor just gets them riled up even more.

PLB
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Be warned, you who thirst for knowledge, be warned about the thicket of opinions and the fight over words. Hesse

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