Is an Electric Smoker a good idea?

[Abbee]

Hi folks
We have 4 hives. It's very annoying that when we are doing inspections, by the time we get to the 3rd hive the smoke has run out and we have to refill and relight.
Would an electric smoker work? How do they work? I understand they have a fan to keep the smoke going but do you still light it the same way with a flame or does the smoker have a 'switch'.

Any thoughts?

 

[Heather]

Have you tried no smoke??
When you open up, lay a cloth over, wait 10 seconds, then slowly fold back cloth as you inspect... following up with 2nd cloth to cover bees looked at.
I only use smoke if I open up a hive and they are 'in my face' ..so with 20 hives, maybe use smoke once.

 

[Teemore]

A slight digression as I have no experience of electric smokers. Have you ever tried inspecting without the use of smoke? I find that I rarely need a smoker when working with my bees and tend only to reach for it to clear box edges prior to settling supers back in place. On most occasions it goes unlit. In place of the smoker, I generally just use a hand sprayer to spray a mist of water over the bees.

 

[bontbee]

How does the smoke "run out"? Do you top the smoker up as you go along?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

An 'electric smoker' is just a bog standard smoker with a battery powered fan instead of a bellows - wasting money on something with more to go wrong IMHO. You still have to light it the same as before and top it up regularly. I can never get my head around faddy gadgets such as this - is giving the bellows a squeeze now and then such hard work?
If it runs out of fuel after three hives I would think of looking at a different fuel or maybe look at how long it's taking you to inspect.

 

[Finman]

Hi folks
We have 4 hives. It's very annoying that when we are doing inspections, by the time we get to the 3rd hive the smoke has run out and we have to refill and relight.

Any thoughts?

Add more fuel. So do I for every hive. It is smallest harm in my life.

Add fuiel when it is in half way.

I use rotten birch.
When white smoke ceases, it is time add tree.

 

[Finman]

How does the smoke "run out"? Do you top the smoker up as you go along?

When the fuel is burned out.

Some rotten birches are quick to burn, and some slower.

Quite many do not burn at all. I may mix quick burning and not at all burning. So they burn together. Important is that stuff does not make tpo much smoke and so tar. White smoke is gasified tar.

Making tar grave

Tar was important product for sailing ships hundreds years ago. Scandinafia made it from their vast forests.

http://int.search.tb.ask.com/search...t=hp&tpr=sbt&imgs=1p&filter=on&imgDetail=true

 

[Apiarisnt]

I bought a ridiculously cheap battery powered smoker (£12 including postage, ordered on a Sunday and arrived the next day). It is not that well made but it works and there are occassions (such as up a tree ) when it is marginally easier or at least less cumbersome to press a button rather than squeeze bellows. Otherwise it is like any ordinary smoker, you have to keep it going (just press the button from time to time) and you have to keep topping it up with wood shavings or leaves or whatever you prefer. The two AA batteries for the fan seem to last.

You can buy the all singing all dancing fully electric smokers from the US which have their own heating element, but then you are talking about a pretty hefty rechargeable battery pack (like in an electric drill) and it will cost you well over £100.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Snip
If it runs out of fuel after three hives I would think of looking at a different fuel or maybe look at how long it's taking you to inspect.

A fair assessment I would suggest

 

[Stiffy]

Hi folks
We have 4 hives. It's very annoying that when we are doing inspections, by the time we get to the 3rd hive the smoke has run out and we have to refill and relight.
Would an electric smoker work? How do they work? I understand they have a fan to keep the smoke going but do you still light it the same way with a flame or does the smoker have a 'switch'.

Any thoughts?

Tried a couple, both broke within weeks. Work okay but handles dropped off, cheap Chinese made
S

 

[Bee Bumble]

I bought one the T's sale electric smokers for fun (second year of regular use) and found it stays alight better than similar-sized manual smokers. It is used at an apiary with five hives. I now only use a large Dadant smoker (manual) or the electric cheapies - others are left to gather cobwebs and dust. I was expecting the electric motor to fail quickly, but it has not, still on the original batteries too.

P.S. It always burns all the fuel in the box - never has gone out with full or part-burned fuel.

 

[For want of a better word]

Made my own with a NiMh battery and a small 12V turbo fan... total cost inc battery and charger and a small Terry clip ... about £5.50!
Screwed to back of bellows with a small hole for the turbo ... any old smoker can be converted.
Easy to light in the traditional way... flick the switch and it keeps going without the need to keep puffing at the bellows... probably uses a bit more fuel... but keeps going even when left on its side.. or fallen over.

Most of my colonies just need a merest puff of smoke... some of the apiaries with the yellow swarms can be a bit feisty but soon get sorted out when a nice pure home bred Cornish Amm is introduced and the yellow devil snuffed.. and put in the smoker for good measure!!

A lot of beekeeping acquaintances take the Michael at first... but like placing colonies on Leylines soon get to see the advantages!!

Yeghes da

 

[user 6228]

Have you tried no smoke??
When you open up, lay a cloth over, wait 10 seconds, then slowly fold back cloth as you inspect... following up with 2nd cloth to cover bees looked at.
I only use smoke if I open up a hive and they are 'in my face' ..so with 20 hives, maybe use smoke once.

If honeybees have an acute sense of smell then they must be able to smell the smoke from the other end of the apiary or further so I'm not sure why the lore of smoking hives is what it is.

 

[Finman]

If honeybees have an acute sense of smell then they must be able to smell the smoke from the other end of the apiary or further so I'm not sure why the lore of smoking hives is what it is.

Russian has sometimes so vast forest fires that we can smell it 100 km far away.

One year the Mayor of Moscow was kicked off for the reason of forest fires. Instead of leading fire army work, he went to his summer cottage to nurse bee hives.

Real reason was that his age was 75 years and Putin wanted his gang to the leader of Moscow.

30 military figters abd radars burned near Moscow in those forest fires.

 

[Cussword]

If honeybees have an acute sense of smell then they must be able to smell the smoke from the other end of the apiary or further so I'm not sure why the lore of smoking hives is what it is.

I try to light my smoker well away from the hives and rarely use it except to clear the way to replace excluders,crown board etc. It does seem that the bees act a little different after it's lit than before when I was watching them at the entrances.

.

 

[philipm]

I've seen people puffing the smoker like mad then wondering why it runs out so quickly.Once it is going a puff now and then should be enough. I wonder if an electric smoker would be like all the other good idea gadgets we buy that get used for a while then end up in the back of the shed.

 

[mazzamazda]

I'd say you need a bigger smoker. I checked around 130 hives yesterday with only two big fills of my smoker and 5 hours of smoke.

 

[Plenty of honey]

How does the smoke "run out"? Do you top the smoker up as you go along?

In france the bees dictate you take a heavy sack of smoker fuel when you enter the apiary!! I couldn't understand why when i started, you learn quick!!

 

[Abbee]

Thanks everyone. Good tips.
Actually most of the time we don't really need the smoke as they are usually calm, it's just to get them off the sides when we put them back together because we can't bear crushing them!!

 

[Finman]

Thanks everyone. Good tips.
Actually most of the time we don't really need the smoke as they are usually calm, it's just to get them off the sides when we put them back together because we can't bear crushing them!!

You have 3 hives. It is not big job to smoke the bees, what ever you use.
Use low technology. Beekeeping need so much all kind of stuff, and it needs store space.