it is not the bees recognizing the beekeeper as I can go into others hives that they have found aggressive with out any problems. the other factor is bees have such a short life span and the guard bees are only at the guard bee post for a little under a week.
Bees react to people, I went over to a new beekeepers place cause her bees she thought were getting more aggressive. I took my veil but smoked the hives and started into them with out veil or suit. She had on her suit and veil, My daughter and I did not have any protection on and the bees were calm. Her husband put his suit on and came out to join us, when he got to with in 5 feet of the hives the bees temperament changed, they became more flighty, buzzed us more were more attentive to guarding the hive by looking out at us. I asked if he always helped her with the hives, and she said yes. I got him to step back from the hives to about 15 feet away and the bees calmed back down. It was strange to watch the change in the reaction of the bees but I informed her that she needed to tend the bees alone, if he could not get his fear and bad vibe under control.
