The Bees Were up to Something Today

My new roommate Laurel mentioned in passing that the bees had swarmed in the yard today. I climbed up and checked the outside of the hive. There still seem to be some bees in there, but I'm not sure what they are up to. The ones at the front entrance seem to just be hanging out and not mysteriously active like they usually are. I guess I'll have a look inside tomorrow after work.

I've been meaning to add a new box to the hive. I was reading that when the bees get too crowded the tend to get more aggressive. I've never had any problems, but my other roommate Amanda tells me she has been chased by bees in the yard a couple of times now. I'm worried, because I don't want my roommates to be scared of the bees, but I'm also confused, because the bees never bother me when I'm out there. I'm not sure how to keep Amanda from being a bee target.

I was doing some reading last night and have discovered that I have maybe been doing the smoking wrong. The smokers are supposed to put out a cool smoke, and in order to get that you are supposed to pack the smoker pretty full of fuel. I have never really paid attention to how hot the smoke was, but from the description of what bad noises the bees make when the smoke is too hot, I suspect the my smoke is too toasty. I'm going to pay closer attention to that in the future.

The last time I opened up the hive was a little hairy. It was too hot out and I was in there too long. The bees were pretty angry, and it was hard to keep them calm. I got stung through my pants three times that day. After that I'm seriously considering buying an actual bee suit. I've just been using whatever, but those three stings really hurt, and they left a mark for a couple weeks. I've never had much of a problem with bee stings before, so I'm not sure what that was about. maybe the stingers broke off in my leg or something. I hate having special clothes for things, but this might be one of these time when I have to break down and spend the money.