Lurker alert! I got my courage up to post......
This old-timer absoulutly hates the smoker unless it is harvest time.   
The method I use, and we all agree that everyone is different, is  
simply spritz lightly the top frames with sugarwater.  They, the bees,  
suddenly find themselves busy, and hopefully find that it was a  
pleasant visit from their caretaker.
I often blow on them too and they move.  No agressiveness, just calm,  
easy and lots of niceness. And no driving from bee yard to bee yard  
with a smoker going-scares the heck out of me! This by far works for  
me. But as I stated, everyone has their own way.

Harvest time, that's another method for another time.

Regards from southern MASS.

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