The Bee's Knees Apiary

…fire? No, just me practicing lighting my bee smoker for the first time! Smoke is used by the beekeeper to mask the bee’s alarm pheromones (which are chemicals released and used for communication). When subjected to a disturbance (such as a newbie beekeeper trying to “invade” their hive), guard bees will release an alarm pheromone, which will basically rile up the entire hive into a defensive state.  Puffing cool smoke into the hive entrance and under the cover a few minutes before