Best Smoker To Buy

[itma]

Perhaps I should clarify, Dadant superior in longevity of burn for this beekeeper at least; all other things being reasonably similar! Size would indeed appear to matter...

But remember longevity of burning is more important to someone with 22 hives than to someone with one or one-ish (soon)!

 

[Chrisfnvs]

Dadant large for me it took a while to source and they do cost a bit but well worth it, remember if you buy cheap you buy twice ! Chris

 

[Erichalfbee]

MB do them. I got one for Christmas

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Thank you for your replies. I think from the sound of things I'll put my £37 back in my pocket and by a £15 one for now and see if it's still going after a few seasons. Is there much difference in using an Etna design?

I have an etna - stainless steel, bought off fleabay some four years ago for £20.00 including postage still going strong apart from
1. broke the little metal loop on the lid used for opening it (me being both rough and clumsy when it was really gummeb up with tar)
2. Bellows on the way out last season maybe partly due to the fact I keep forgetting it up near the hives for days on end in the rain.
So apart from replacing the bellows with one from the sales (£5.00) it's still going strong and looks a lot more robust than my spare which I bought in the sales last year for £12.00.
And I like the inner basket insert rather than the little grid you get in empires
Maybe the etna is a little less 'pointable' than the empire but otherwise no difference

 

[drstitson]

basket insert is a must for me - either supplied or DIY.


BTW why is that whenever you have a proper apiary session the smoker causes probe but the time you just need to whip on and off a lid from 1 hive the smoker is still smoking away an hour later!

 

[BeeFarmer]

Dadant large for me it took a while to source and they do cost a bit but well worth it, remember if you buy cheap you buy twice ! Chris

Thank you for all the excellent advice, I think I've settled on one of two

Dadant Smoker 4" x 7" or Ami Bee Smoker

 

[BeeFarmer]

Thank you for all the excellent advice, I think I've settled on one of two

Dadant Smoker 4" x 7" or Ami Bee Smoker

For some reason my links didn't work but the two smokers were advertised on -------, never heard of them but they look reasonable.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Are you trying to link to a company called Bee Time? If so, it's probably blocked as potential spam because you haven't made many posts.

However, of the two, I'd choose the Dadant because I've already got one.

 

[REDWOOD]

I have an etna - stainless steel, bought off fleabay some four years ago for £20.00 including postage still going strong apart from
1. broke the little metal loop on the lid used for opening it (me being both rough and clumsy when it was really gummeb up with tar)
2. Bellows on the way out last season maybe partly due to the fact I keep forgetting it up near the hives for days on end in the rain.
So apart from replacing the bellows with one from the sales (£5.00) it's still going strong and looks a lot more robust than my spare which I bought in the sales last year for £12.00.
And I like the inner basket insert rather than the little grid you get in empires
Maybe the etna is a little less 'pointable' than the empire but otherwise no difference

+1
Bought two from e bay and still going strong
JBM give me your broken one and I will weld the little loop back on, same thing happened to mine

 

[fatshark]

+1 for a Dadant here as well … and I quickly regretted not buying the largest one. For lighting I'd suggest a button ignition blow lamp. Large canister cartridges, pretty cheap, auto ignite etc. You can also use it to flame your wooden hives. I've got a couple of those BBQ lighters or whatever they're called but they can be tricky to light.

 

[BeeFarmer]

I decided to buy a large Dadant smoker since there was only £2 between the small one and the large one. I had to shop arod as some places listed items with VAT included, some excluded and some without postage. However, after finding the best deal I got one shipped for under £60. I'm going to buy a small auto-ignition Camping Gaz blow torch