Debra Sharpe in Alabama wrote:
    >I also would like to know when I am checking my
>bees should I use the bee brush to move them from areas I want to look at,
>or when I replace supers so I do not crush them? They seem to get madder
>when I brush them than if I were to crush a few.
******************
     You are wearing a headnet, right?
     Try holding the frame in front of your face and blowing a stream of air
at the area you want the bees to move from.  Bees seem not to agitated by a
breeze.
     Brushing bees must be an art because, although bee books mention it, my
experience with a bee brush has been the same as yours. I do not use a bee
brush.
     Try putting the last frame back into the hive body slowly to avoid
crushing bees and try setting a super onto the hive slightly catty-corner
and then slowly moving it, not sliding it, to its proper position, squared
on the hive.
Tim
--
Tim Sterrett
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(southeastern) Pennsylvania, USA