I didn't use the smoker or a bee suit again. I listen to the sound coming from the hive after I take off the lid. There's a calmness to the tone. I talk to them while I'm moving apart the frames along the edges. I'd already spent time with them earlier in the day and they are at ease with me clicking my camera and having my lens inches from their faces. They even hover over me waiting to land if I'm blocking their landing strip.
I am mesmerized by them. They each have duties and they all seem so focused and so at peace with themselves and their colony.