Bees reacting badly to smoke

[Luminos]

Has anyone tried the smoke-flavoured additive to a mist spray?
Is it any good?

 

[viridens]

Don't forget the other factors in play such as the weather, the state of the hive and what the bees are up to at the time you open it. Smoke or no smoke, cool or hot, they'll still let you know if they are not happy.

 

[madasafish]

What's a smoker?

 

[johna]

I find the best smoker material is thornes packing shredded cardboard rolled inside some hessian,Lights realy easily and gives clouds of COOL smoke.Don't try to work bees without without smoke-thats just asking for trouble.DON'T oversmoke-just a light puff in the entrances about a couple of minutes before your inspection followed by a VERY light puff over the tops of the frames.We're trying to get the bees to run down the frames not smoke them to death or burn their wings off.The bees will certainly turn on you however if your smoker is running too hot.

 

[Gardenbees]

Are you sure they're not short of food? Bees hate smoke if they have no food, in my experience: perhaps because it becomes a threat that they can't do much about. Normally they start to stuff themselves on honey if they smell smoke, but I guess if there's not much honey to spare, the smoke is actually a lethal threat to the future of the colony, and the usual calming effect doesn't apply. Their instinct, then, is presumably simply to get out of the way ASAP.

 

[Polyanwood]

i find that too gardenbees

 

[Hivemaker.]

Bees hate smoke if they have no food

Does that mean if they are hungry and you give them some grub,then they actually like smoke....have a kind of fettish for it

 

[MrB]

Bees hate smoke if they have no food

Does that mean if they are hungry and you give them some grub,then they actually like smoke....have a kind of fettish for it

Yep, they like a smoke after a meal

 

[Headnavigator]

Really stupid question now - if we don't open up when it's raining because bees don't like rain, surely they're not going to be that keen either on being sprayed with rain-water, whether it's with or without sugar? Ok I'll try it, but I'm wary!

 

[Bees Plus]

What would you do if you thought your home was about to burn down?
Panic!!
They must have thought fire - lets get out of here...

Cool smoke, I mix some green bits in with the dry. I collect the paper from the office shreader but not colour magazines, and garden trimmings.

Hope this helps.

 

[pipewrench36]

What would you do if you thought your home was about to burn down?
Panic!!
They must have thought fire - lets get out of here...

I certainly wouldn't call the local fire brigade, they would be down Morrisons doing their shopping, complete with fire engine.

 

[nelletap]

This is a really iteresting and practical thread. I've seen no comments about either any of the pellets that some sell and claim work nor from anyone who does things like adding some lavender to the burning mixture. I have also seen various sprays advertised - I think there have been comments before that the bees don't like the aerosol sprays - but would using water or sugar water be a good idea if it were backed up with having one of these sprays to hand in case of emergencies?
Tricia

 

[Luminos]

I use rosemary sprigs in the smoker on the advice of Erichalfbee, and it really does help keep the smoker going. And the bees - which are calm anyway (so far) - don't seem to mind it

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

After trying this and that, at the moment I use a mixture of dried rotten wood (lights easily and keeps going although burns a little fast) and cotton (bought from Th***es I think) pulled apart and put on once the wood has caught properly - this doesn't light as easily so slows the wood down and gives loads of pleasant cool smoke

 

[Ellem]

Really stupid question now - if we don't open up when it's raining because bees don't like rain, surely they're not going to be that keen either on being sprayed with rain-water, whether it's with or without sugar? Ok I'll try it, but I'm wary!

I use it as a proper mist (think slight fog) so they get damp but not soaked and not too much (since you really don't want lots of damp in the hive). With mine it just encourages them to get their heads down and groom each other. With smoke they just have a hissy fit at me (and I've tried various mixes).

 

[Headnavigator]

Good, many thanks Ellem, I'll give it a try tomorrow!

 

[UK Fisher]

Thank you all again for the ideas about smokers/misting etc.

Just to update, inspected same hive again today, and this time put a clump of fresh green long grass in the top of the smoker and the bees were fine with it, no odd reactions at all, i did check the heat of the smoke on the back of my hand first to make sure it wasn't hot.

The bees behaved impeccably, not a hint of anger like last time i checked and no clouds of bees dashing about while i carried out my inspection.

Your ideas worked a treat and there are plenty more to try in this thread as well....

Thank you all for your help and advice, it is very appreciated.

Jazz