The frames are very heavily when full! A good thing right 
but yeah - a secure grip on both ends after some levering would seem the most sensible way.
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A few days ago I went to do a days inspections and to bring some frames of honey home to extract and drain 3 frames from a Flow Hive at the apiary. One hive I had on my list when I raised the roof that hive came out really angry, so I just lowered the roof back down and went to the other hives that were calm that day. Yesterday the angry hive was so calm, bees can have an off day too. When bees have a mind set on stinging I turn the smoker on myself, especially on my hands up to my elbow, it masks the pheromone left after a bee stings. The more stings the more pheromone so it can set off a chain reaction.
Cheers
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Some “take-aways” after researching this incident.
- Banana’s
- Yeah probably not a good idea for a few days prior to opening that box.
- Banana’s produce a smell that closely resembles the pheromone isopentyl acetate. Or alarm pheromone.
- Gloves
- Spend the money to get bee handler gloves. The ones I was using, although they were leather, had breathing strips on the sides. The bees got a good foot hold on these strips and stung like crazy.
- Washing
- Do not use citrus scented hand soap before handling the bee’s. This particular scent can confuse the guard bees. When they are confused their instinct is to attack.
- Don’t use cologne for at least a day prior to handling the girls. Many colognes, mine included, contain musk. As in the same thing a skunk uses. In general bees hate skunks.
- Smoke
- Not all smoke is the same. When filling the smoker, I used debris lying around that part of the yard. Much of that was oleander leaves that have accumulated after the winter drop. Oleander is toxic. When burned, the oil gives off a very sour smell that, rather than calming the bees agitates them intensely. The bees avoid the blossom for the most part. I should have noticed that. (This explains why there were so many bees attacking the smoker itself. A strange thing to see for sure.)
- From now on I will stick to the small cotton cloths as a starter then the pellets I have just for the smoker.
- Timing
- I opened the hive too early in the season I believe. Although there was no dearth of honey, due to the simple syrup and pollen pack I placed in there before any chance of freeze, the ambient temperature was too low. I assumed that the cold would make the bees lethargic in nature. I was wrong. That cold blast of air coming in from the top after I opened the box was a shock to their system especially considering the toxic smoke they just encountered.
- In the future I will ignore the orienting of the new bees throughout February and keep things at status quo until the second week of March. This way the temperatures will be in the 50’s at the lowest.
- Responsiveness of maintainer. (That’s me.)
- When that first bee stung my glove, I should have stepped back and changed things up.
- When the bees showed signs of becoming completely frantic, I should have simply closed up the box and come back at a different time.
- I failed in this. It cost the lives of many bees because I pushed forward rather than retreat.
- In the future I will pay closer attention to how the hive as a unit is responding to my presence.
I want to thank everyone for their help and suggestions. It’s good to know there are people I can come to when things don’t go as planned. You all will be happy to know the girls are happy and contently zipping from tree to tree gathering copious amounts of pollen as spring begins to waken everything up.
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If you have Pine Trees in you area you will find heaps of pine needles under the tree that have dried out. It is a great smoker fuel, smolders with a cool smoke and easy to get smoking and it’s cheap too. 
I tried the smoker pellets made in China, they are good but expensive when you need a dozen to get enough smoke and they last for about 20 minutes. I use a mix of pine needles and wood shaving and it works well for an hour or two.
I totally agree, the sap of the oleander is poisonous and the smoke from the leaves really upsets the bees in a big way.
Thanks for the reminder and a well thought out posting.
Cheers
I have pine trees on my property. Thanks for the advice. I’ll try that.
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A really well-thought out set of important take-aways, Matt - good things for other newbies and more experienced beeks alike to keep in mind!
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Pine needles work well. However, they generate alot of tar (or whatever the stuff is) so just keep in mind you’ll need to clean your smoker at some point, probably sooner than you anticipated/had been doing.
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I agree Alan, pine needles do crud up a smoker quickly. Pine needles contain a lot of oil, hence they really explode in flames in a bush fire even when they are green.
@Newbee123456789 I have tried heaps of different things in my smoker, so give the pine needles a go and I’m sure you will like the result mate.
Cheers
It’s great that you had this unfortunate incident & have learnt from it. I was thinking earlier on the thread that it could be something in the smoke that made the bees angry, going by your description of the events. The wrong fuel in the smoker could be the main reason for the bees behavior.
Stick to basic smoker fuel & hopefully you’ll be sweet.