There's Honey in the Honeycomb

SOOOOOOO...here's what happens in Nature: when bees feel that their hive is threatened, they sting, which supposedly gets the attacker to leave them alone. It works.

A beautiful sunny afternoon...I open one hive and see: thousands of bees, lots of honey, rich thick comb, a few larvae. No sign of the Queen, maybe I missed her, no eggs, but as this is my first year with bees, I'm not sure if there should be any in the fall. The comb is rich golden, amber, drops of honey glistening in the sun.
....I close up the hive and go to the second one... lots of rich honey, the bees seem a bit more agitated than the first hive, I move slowly, they calm down. Top box, no problem, middle box, no problem...just the weight of moving the honey-filled frames. Bottom box is "swarming" (quotes because they aren't literally swarming) with bees on top and throughout. I remove the first frame, start to look at the next, when a bee lands on my right ring finger and another on my right forearm. BAM, the one on my finger stings me (she's dead) the one on my arm, which is so huge, I fear it's the queen starts dancing and I scrape it off, scratching my arm in the process. As it turns red and my finger starts to swell up I decide not to finish going through the rest of the box. UGH. I put everything back together, get the dog and go back inside, nursing my wounds until the debate comes on.