This is my first year beekeeping. I have 2 hives in my back garden in a
suburb of Dublin Ireland.
 
I have just taken the honey crop from the hives. To day I decided to put the
empty supers back on the hives to have the bees clean them up prior to storage.
 
I was debating with myself whether or not I should use smoke.
 
I followed some of the books I have read, and used smoke when I was lifting
the crownboard. However I noticed that the bees were very quiet until I used
the smoke, and then they got a bit aggravated.
 
I am wondering if I am using smoke unnecessarily and maybe upsetting the
bees thereby.
 
What I am really after are good guidelines for using smoke and how much of
it to use.
 
Thanks for your comments
 
Sincerely
 
Tom Barrett
49 South Park
Foxrock
Dublin 18
Ireland
 
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