New Smoker Concept

[mbc]

Anyone fancy defining what constitutes a 'natural material' ?

Cardboard is made from wood pulp, which is nothing more than ground-up trees - ain't that natural enough ?

LJ

The majority of cardboard for packaging is impregnated with flame retardants.
These same chemicals are the most frequently found man made chemicals in the thyroid glands of marine mammals living around ports !
Cardboard works much better if its been left in the rain and then dried out, probably because these flame retardants have been washed out.

 

[Winker]

Well done! I remember some time ago a beek who's car caught fire due to his smoker
This looks good for away apiaries or where that extra time to light a smoker is not available.

That would have been me

 

[dpearce4]

That is a serious piece of student work, I hope you get a distinction for it.

you really need to look at the patent for it ASAP.

 

[Tom Bick]

Just a rumor guys it may just be that but we know the people who tend to set these rules do like to justify their existence and when you think about it whats to stop some numpty blowing smoke from melting plastic into a hive full of nectar without fear of possible prosecution.

I like the product and wish it works out for the op and liquid smoke may be considered the least toxic of all possible so called natural materials that can be burnt in a smoker and this ruling if true may just wotk in their favour.

 

[Excession]

Ouch at £150.

Sounds like you need to do some value engineering!

I would have thought get it under £100 to hit the sweet spot. All the Beeks on this forum are a frugal bunch!

 

[lgrieve91]

Thats a safe estimate I guess. My lack of experience is against me on that front, but in my opinion its better be surprised with something being cheaper then expected then it be more.

Im a student beekeeper, I only buy things from supermarkets that have a little yellow reduced sticker on them.

 

[VEG]

I think you will have to put a few of those yellow stickers on this then lol

 

[Mart_got_hives]

It's a little pricey but you could have a ready market with urban beekeepers like myself. Most of urban England including almost all of London is designated as "Smoke Control Zones" and smokers aren't on the exempted appliances list so this device with it's vapour would be a way round this. Assuming the vapour dissipates faster than smoke it'll be more neighbour friendly too. I suggest you maybe use that as a marketing angle.

 

[Travelator]

Really impressive concept and artwork! I did notice a few typos in the text though:

1 "contain" should be "contains"
3 "its" should be "it's"
5 "hive. A noise" should be "hive - a noise"
6 "holding options" - would "holding positions" be better?
8 "out the spout" should be "out of the spout". Is "intaking" a proper word?
10 "effecient" should be "efficient"

Second page - "effecient" should be "efficient", "bee's" should be "bees"

Sincere apologies for nit-picking, but I thought it might get you a few extra marks if this is going to be assessed as coursework!

 

[steve1958]

As sad as it may sound, Lighting and using my old smoker is all part of the Bee keeping experience for me.
I actually enjoy the challenge of lighting it and keeping it smoking.
Of finding different materials to burn.
It is also nearly Free as most fuels can be obtained for nothing, and a box of matches lasts a long time.

I guess its a bit like comparing Manual versus Automatic transmission.
I like the extra work involved in changing gears.

 

[Erichalfbee]

The alarm at the choking smoke of the newspaper you use to light the fuel which is replaced with satisfaction as the rotten wood catches and the smoker fills with heavy white smoke.
The sweet aroma of the lavender/rosemary tucked into the top as you set off across the field with your bee buddy in hot sunshine,puffing the smoker occasionally to keep it going as you chat.
And the peace and harmony as you plug the spout with a tuft of grass,job done .......lovely!!!

 

[domino]

Oh no they are going ban my smoker fuel stash!!!

I better burn the evidence.

 

[Skyhook]

I enjoy using my smoker too, and wouldn't pay £150.00- but that doesn't mean there's not a market for it. There are people who are happy to pay a lot for their kit (see the Highgrove top-bar hive), and people who aren't so old fashioned, or into playing with matches.

I think this is a brilliant idea, and could take off. As regards the possibility of liquid smoke being withdrawn this could work very well with other things such as peppermint or lavender oil.

My concern is- how is the liquid held? If the smoker falls over, does it all spill out of the container, or is there some sort of drip system?

.

 

[herefordshirehoney]

The mb bee-z smoker is £150 so ideally it would need to be £100 to sit right in the market place, the bee-z smoker does sorta in a loose way look like the old traditional smoker though be it with batteries attached.

 

[Davelin]

Really impressive concept and artwork! I did notice a few typos in the text though:

1 "contain" should be "contains"
3 "its" should be "it's"
5 "hive. A noise" should be "hive - a noise"
6 "holding options" - would "holding positions" be better?
8 "out the spout" should be "out of the spout". Is "intaking" a proper word?
10 "effecient" should be "efficient"

Second page - "effecient" should be "efficient", "bee's" should be "bees"

Sincere apologies for nit-picking, but I thought it might get you a few extra marks if this is going to be assessed as coursework!

"Separate" not "seperate" while we're at it.

A very commendable project, but a bit over engineered for the target market I suspect.

 

[Outlander]

Just one final thing I forgot to ask. Do I leave only one cell per split and destroy the surplus?

Sorry not the right thread.

 

[pargyle]

The alarm at the choking smoke of the newspaper you use to light the fuel which is replaced with satisfaction as the rotten wood catches and the smoker fills with heavy white smoke.
The sweet aroma of the lavender/rosemary tucked into the top as you set off across the field with your bee buddy in hot sunshine,puffing the smoker occasionally to keep it going as you chat.
And the peace and harmony as you plug the spout with a tuft of grass,job done .......lovely!!!

Or more likely, sloshing though the muddy field wondering whether the wind and drizzle will cease sufficiently to even light the match to light the damn smoker, let alone open the hive, then you find that the smoker fuel in the bottom of the plastic box has been under the leak in the shed roof and the dry grass, wood chips and hessian are more a candidate for a papier mache sculpture than any fuel source. So you open the hive without the smoker - just for a peep - and the girls take a real dislike to you and chase you back over the muddy field etc etc ...

 

[madasafish]

My largest expenditure on beekeeping was bees at £150 three years ago. So £150 for a smoker is about £130 more than I would pay.

Liquid smoke at £7 per bottle is a cheaper alternative.

Very niche market - like £1,250 TBHs.. as seen on this forum.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Or more likely, sloshing though the muddy field wondering whether the wind and drizzle will cease sufficiently to even light the match to light the damn smoker, let alone open the hive, then you find that the smoker fuel in the bottom of the plastic box has been under the leak in the shed roof and the dry grass, wood chips and hessian are more a candidate for a papier mache sculpture than any fuel source. So you open the hive without the smoker - just for a peep - and the girls take a real dislike to you and chase you back over the muddy field etc etc ...

Where's the tongue-in-cheek smiley when you want one?
A girl can dream,nevertheless.

 

[pargyle]

Where's the tongue-in-cheek smiley when you want one?
A girl can dream,nevertheless.

Keep dreaming ... we all long for those balmy summer days of our youth when you could lay on your back in a meadow full of long grass and wildflowers, watching skylarks overhead and listening to the constant hum of insects. And that was in the middle of South Yorkshire, surrounded by mines, steelworls and heavy industry !

I'm old enough to remember them and they DID exist - just what the hell has happened ?