I observed the same behavior in my girls too. All summer they have been sooooo gentle and it has been a pleasure. Now it seems the nectar has dried up and man are they grouchy. I am feeding 2:1 syrup with HBH. The other day when I went to remove an empty quart container to refill it, I was a bit rough, and the container bounced around a bit. Well that was it!! About 8 guards came right for my face (I had no equipment on as I wasn't removing any frames or even the inner cover). They were in perfect fighter formation and homed in on me like heat seeking missles. Well I did what I guess all beeks do at one time or another. I ran away in a panic while swiping the bees off of me. They were in my hair (whats left of it, anyway), on my shirt (short sleeves), my arms, my neck, my pants just everywhere! I ran about 60 or 70 yards and they were still on me! That would've made Americas Funniest Videos for sure. I ran to my upper yard where my seven year old was playing with the dog. He just looked at me funny. The strange thing is that I didn't get stung or if I did I didn't feel it! Maybe the adrenilin masked the ouch, who knows? Needless to say when I went back with the syrup filled container I had the veil and smoker. They had calmed down and there were no problems after that. From now on, though, I am suiting up when I go to that hive.....