Usually. But since I was pulling a couple of top bars of honey from the end, I didn't use smoke. Didn't want to taint the honey. Had sugar syrup and Honey Bee Healthy spray though. Helped, but the guard bees were relentless.
Even when I use smoke on these girls, it's still a battle - just not as bad. When I step into the bee yard and get within a feet of the hive, they start zinging me. No, I don't use Old Spice. :)
Two things could have effected them: There was a low pressure system moving in (I found out afterward). And I had spilled a little Lemongrass oil on my gloves earlier . But I'd imagine they would have liked this - not get angry at it!