Are we damaging our lungs by inhaling smoke?

[Amari]

I usually use no smoke or only a little. A few days ago I joined two other beeks to go through a dozen hives on a queen marking exercise. It was the smoke (wood chip fuel) from the smoker while not in use that kept making me cough, even though I tried to rest the smoker down-wind.
There's been much recent publicity about harmful air pollution from wood burners etc and I think it's becoming antisocial to have bonfires in built-up areas.
Can anyone advise on which fuel is the least irritant?

 

[Boston Bees]

I have used nothing but water spray for the last year, and this is one of the reasons why.

 

[mbc]

Time to invent the oxygen tent beekeeping suit

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

stop wrapping your lips around the nozzle of the smoker - don't you get blisters?

 

[tom8400]

I did question it in my mind last year, and I must add I hate sitting in traffic or following fumey cars. But after thinking about it I'd say

Certainly won't do you any favours, but then look at it this way you keep bees your hardly sat in the pub beer garden smoking a fag and drinking several glasses of wine. I dare say the half decade (for most of us) of our lives being in pubs and clubs where everyone was smoking and filling the place with smoke will have done most of us far more harm than a smoker for bees.

Its rather minor in the grand scheme, im sure if your burning pine needles or natural woods its about as clean as it can be I no longer use the shredded cardboard because it is considerably more smokey.
I'd have thought if your worrying about if the smoke from a smoker is doing you harm, then that is causing you as much harm as the smoke.

 

[Amari]

stop wrapping your lips around the nozzle of the smoker - don't you get blisters?

Cheaper than vaping nicotine, I suppose

 

[Amari]

.
I'd have thought if your worrying about if the smoke from a smoker is doing you harm, then that is causing you as much harm as the smoke.

True, O Sage.....

 

[madasafish]

I place my smoker so the wind blows smoke away from me. (Edit: and puffing smoke into the wind is an exercise in futility)
I have found no issues in 12 years of beekeeping .
I regularly get my heartrate well above 100bpm with my daily yoga and have seen no issues with difficulty breathing in that period. ( But then I ran half marathons for 20 years before beekeeping)

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I ran half marathons for 20 years

do you think you'll ever get to finish them?

 

[Finman]

When you nurse the hive, stay above the wind. Then it happens that your stink goes over the bees and they attack on you.

Which is worse, bee venom or smoke?
.

 

[Amari]

I place my smoker so the wind blows smoke away from me. (Edit: and puffing smoke into the wind is an exercise in futility)
I have found no issues in 12 years of beekeeping .
I regularly get my heartrate well above 100bpm with my daily yoga and have seen no issues with difficulty breathing in that period. ( But then I ran half marathons for 20 years before beekeeping)

I have never tried yoga but have always assumed that it creates mental and physical calm and relaxation so it seems counterintuitive that the aim is to raise your pulse rate.

 

[OH honey]

I usually use no smoke or only a little. A few days ago I joined two other beeks to go through a dozen hives on a queen marking exercise. It was the smoke (wood chip fuel) from the smoker while not in use that kept making me cough, even though I tried to rest the smoker down-wind.
There's been much recent publicity about harmful air pollution from wood burners etc and I think it's becoming antisocial to have bonfires in built-up areas.
Can anyone advise on which fuel is the least irritant?

I was a firefighter at a city centre fire station for 28 years. Honestly, I really wouldn't worry about the long term effects on your health caused by the small amounts of smoke from a smoker used infrequently for short periods

 

[madasafish]

I have never tried yoga but have always assumed that it creates mental and physical calm and relaxation so it seems counterintuitive that the aim is to raise your pulse rate.

Ashtanga yoga combines both physical and mental health..I always end with 3-5 minutes in a relaxed child's pose.

 

[Sutty]

Pretty much all smoke contains carcinogens, so theoretically there could be a health risk. However I suspect it is negligible compared with other exposures. It doesn't matter much how you ingest these substances & smoked food is associated with a raised cancer risk too. At a complete guess I suspect a hive inspection gives you less exposure than a rasher of smoked bacon!

 

[Amari]

I confess I smoked fags for 22 years but gave up 1982.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I confess I smoked fags for 22 years but gave up 1982.

My sister used to be a journalist and on one occasion did a piece for Harefield hospital trust. She has a lovely picture of Magdi Yacoub with a packet of Rothmans poking out of his scrubs pocket.

 

[gbg000]

Any views on liquid smoke? Add to water and use as a spray?

 

[rossbyjove]

I usually use no smoke or only a little. A few days ago I joined two other beeks to go through a dozen hives on a queen marking exercise. It was the smoke (wood chip fuel) from the smoker while not in use that kept making me cough, even though I tried to rest the smoker down-wind.
There's been much recent publicity about harmful air pollution from wood burners etc and I think it's becoming antisocial to have bonfires in built-up areas.
Can anyone advise on which fuel is the least irritant?

Slightly off topic but the 'Wood burner scare' is to get everyone hooked up to the grid.
If you think the energy price rises now are something, wait until that new nuclear power station comes online.
EDF have been promised the highest electricity tariff on earth !

 

[Boston Bees]

Slightly off topic but the 'Wood burner scare' is to get everyone hooked up to the grid.
If you think the energy price rises now are something, wait until that new nuclear power station comes online.
EDF have been promised the highest electricity tariff on earth !

That EDF deal looked very expensive at the time. It doesn't anymore though, I believe, on current market prices for electricity.

EDF are being promised a guaranteed £106 per MWh. The current wholesale price is £172, having peaked at £240 last year.

So I don't think the opening of the plant will affect prices much if at all.

 

[Finman]

In the year 1850 50% out of Finnish people lived in "smoke houses". It meanst that the house did not have a chimney.

The light to the house they got by burning long chips of pine wood.