after all the questions about working around the hive, and all of our assurances that the bees don't care, i put the lie to that today. i went out to plow up my buckwheat pasture. i started about 20 feet from the hives and worked my way out. for the first 30 min. they didn't care. then they started checking out the tractor. by the time i'd been out there for an hour, they were pinging off my head. guess they figured out what made the beast go :-) .
no stings, but i quit to be on the safe side. so...most of the time the bees don't care. today, they do!