We finally received our bees for our new hive. We got approximately 20,000. We went to Tennessee to get them from James Crockett. The video above is of my husband installing them in our hive from the nook they came in. He's using a smoker to calm them down. When the bees think they are in danger, they send out guard bees to attack. These bees release a pheromone which is an odor they use to communicate. The smoke mask the odor so the bees are less likely to sting.
Once the queen is in the hive if there are any stray bees they will make their way to the hive.
I took all the pictures and got within 1 foot of the hive. Between my husband, son and myself I was only stung one time. I got stung on the ankle while I was making a video for you tube. I also put the video on here. I'm not allergic and didn't even swell. However I did take the stinger out as soon as i could. We're just learning about bees but I hope I explained everything okay. We try to read alot on the internet and go to a bee association meeting once a month.

 

 

 

The two photographs above were taken by James Crockett of Tennessee. They show a swarm of bees that he found in his backyard.

We purchased these from him in May 2009.