I lit my smoker maybe 2 times last year and not once this year at all. I rarely even wear more than jeans and a t-shirt out there. I do have very calm bees. This is true except for during the fall. Then, it is jacket/veit/gloves.
Conversely, if I am doing what I call a "full tear down" with propolis scraping, burr comb removal etc etc, then I will wear the gear, but never really use smoke. I use a bee brush, blowing from my mouth, and sometimes a squirt bottle with 1:1 sugar solution.