Hi.
Expected behavior, according to Wurmpedia:
Observed behavior:
Ouch! I carried a bee smoker (smoking), for sure.
Conclusion:
Either Wurmpedia is wrong, or there is a bug.
Found reason:
The smoker I carried was lit, but not by me. Another player had lit it before & handed it over to me when done. Snuffing the smoker & lighting it again myself solved the riddle & saved me further injuries.
I don't know if it is desired behavior. If it is, it should be mentioned in the Wurmpedia. If it is not, then - well, then it's a bug ;-)
Besides, it seems that the "bees can sting you" should now be "bees will sting you", because they did this (at least in my case) every time since one of the recent updates (I'm Fo priest & used to care for my bees w/o smoker, using the only occasional stings as a source of channeling skill).
Have fun!