Package removal

So I went out this morning at the advice of others on the forum to remove the boxes. It was mid 40's and overcast. I started with the more active hive. They didn't seem to care much until I started really separating things. They had already started building comb on the package box. The queen was already out of her cage. I certain hope she didn't get squished in all the ruckus. I tried to be as gentle as possible, but of course I did squash a few, I think. I left the queen cage and package cage outside the hive so the girls could get back, since they wouldn't get off.

I went back to the house to give them a few minutes to calm down. Unfortunately, I think two girls tried to sting me. I had two shirts and a pair of pants, so I didn't get stung. I found them on my clothes though one with stinger stuck and still attached. The other had already lost it's stinger and was wandering around on my shirt.

I was much more cautious with the second hive, now that I had done it once. It's queen was still in the cage so I left it on top of the frames. I just put the extra frames in the top box rather than removing it. I also left a lot more bees outside the hive rather than angering them by shaking them. I hope they're ok.