Does smoke calm down honey bees? Why do beekeepers use it when opening a hive? #bee #honeybee

[sandstead]

Yeah when i open them up slowly they are kinda agitated but still cool, once i put out some smoke they strt to get confused and their buzz gets loader and they get angry.. i wonder if its okay not to use smoke at all i dont dare to so it yet

[jamesbarron]

My question is does smoking your bee suit help at all? I do it when they get riled up and it doesn’t seem to stop them from attacking. I rescue all my bees from doing cut outs and some are more aggressive than others. I’m in Texas and we have some Africanized genetics. My most aggressive hives are my best hives.