The little I knew about bee-keeping was from this video that Saydrah posted of her uncle a while back. You may find it interesting.
The bees are "smoked" to calm them down, and the way that works (I've been told) is that the bees believe there is maybe a forest fire nearby, so what they do is head immediately to their honey stores and engorge themselves - the logic being that if they must abandon their home and build a new one, they will need to very quickly produce a lot of beeswax for their new comb (that's where they raise their babies). Bees make wax using honey or nectar as an energy source.
Ask me anything about bees and beekeeping - they are fascinating and lots of fun.
I make a pretty decent Hoegaarden White clone. Mine has a bit more body, slightly higher alcohol content, but flavour-wise, it's pretty close. The key to that one is I ranch the yeast from a 4-pack of Hoegaarden White and use that; plus the bitter orange peel and coriander-seed spicing. It's a crowd pleaser.
Your Hoegaarden clone sounds awesome.
I've never seen Hitachino on tap.... anywhere. What's the name of the place in Detroit? I'd like to try that next time in there.
edit: My father used to brew and he said his first batch was the best he ever made. He spent years trying to top it.