Punished harshly for a school boy mistake.

[Onge]

Hehe.

I don't call one sting to the face a harsh punishment.

Could have been a lot worse.

It's all good fun, plus a dose of adrenalin to liven up your day.

 

[kazmcc]

I'm going to ask our mentor to show me how to use the smoker this week. I know in theory what to do, but it's better to be actually shown. They normally are very patient with our fumblings, but after the replacing apilife incident ( which looking back I quite enjoyed oddly enough ) I think it would be wise to have the smoker going just in case, even if we don't end up using it. We have two of them, but they've never been used.

 

[Moggs]

I have a smoker that was clearly built as a Friday job. It smokes exceedingly well in the back of the car, without fail. Otherwise it has a yearning to incinerate bees with a blast of flame or taunt them with a pathetically thin dribble of something that resembles the output of a dampened roll-up.

I have tamed it though. Its secret lies in nurturing a starter of dry grass, or newspaper, topped with wood shavings, just the right size to allow a good throughput of air. Too densely packed and it goes out, too light and it's all over in a display that would put many a bonfire night celebration to shame.

The SBI made me laugh. He tried for a few minutes to ignite his wood shavings, puffing away in a carefully timed series of bellow squeezes, even turning the smoker into the wind atop of his car to get a good through draught. I was intrigued and eager to witness the unravelling of this beekeeping mystery. It was not to be. When it became clear that it was not a good day for smoking, he retired to the back of the car and produced a blowlamp of truly enviable proportions, letting out a mischievous chuckle along the way. With a deft flick of a button, it roared into life, robbing us both of oxygen and instantly charring the top layer of chips to a turn, sending sparks and smoke aplenty into the air as it did so.

It reminded me of a Crocodile Dundee moment - "Now that's a smoker!"

Bees, what bees?

 

[Heather]

Why do people not use the smoker before going into the hive its the first thing I was taught.

I disagree.

Ok- have a smoker lit nearby- but why stuff smoke into a hive before you know what they are like.
They are usually very calm and ignore you and they have been kippered for no reason - and that upsets them- they get disrupted and eat honey that they have stored...

If they are 'lively' then a little smoke-ok- but I have worked a hive with people that start off by guffing a load in the door space- then more guffs under the crown board...

I always teach... have smoker lit and reachable- but assess first. Use a towel to cover the bees when removing the crownboard. (fresh towel each hive). Only smoke if handler feels bees are too lively. Maybe some 'smokers ' should try this before they follow the teaching in a blinkered fashion.

I care for 14 colonies and do not need smoke on any of them. Only once this year did I reach for it- and the colony was queenless.

(Me - resting my case)

 

[kazmcc]

I disagree.

Ok- have a smoker lit nearby- but why stuff smoke into a hive before you know what they are like.
They are usually very calm and ignore you and they have been kippered for no reason - and that upsets them- they get disrupted and eat honey that they have stored...

If they are 'lively' then a little smoke-ok- but I have worked a hive with people that start off by guffing a load in the door space- then more guffs under the crown board...

I always teach... have smoker lit and reachable- but assess first. Use a towel to cover the bees when removing the crownboard. (fresh towel each hive). Only smoke if handler feels bees are too lively. Maybe some 'smokers ' should try this before they follow the teaching in a blinkered fashion.

I care for 14 colonies and do not need smoke on any of them. Only once this year did I reach for it- and the colony was queenless.

(Me - resting my case)

That is how I feel, but as a beginner I thought I'd hold out for more experience before I completely make up my mind. Why smoke if they are happy and not bothered by the intrusion? I agree though, I would like to have a smoker lit just in case close to hand. Just as a safety precaution as I know the nicest bees can become monsters ( apilife experience springs to mind lol, could have done with some smoke then.....the little nightmares were bouncing off me )

 

[Skyhook]

I started with cardboard, found they didn't like it, now use dried grass with a bit of woodshavings. Key thing seems to be make sure it's really, really alight before starting. When it is, ie if a thick stream of smoke comes out when pumped, then it will probably still be alight when you want it. If wisps are coming out they will come out as long as you are pumping- but will go out as soon as you put it down. If you light it and wisps are coming out don't trust it, open it up and light iut again.

 

[Beezy]

That's why I love the rapid feeder - you don't have to disturb the bees at all so no risk of getting stung and no need to suit up. Just fill up the feeder and watch the bees line up like pigs at the trough to take the syrup down!

 

[*ZhG*StGeorge]

At my taster day the instructor put a bunch of new pulled nettle leaves in the top of the smoker so that it did not spout fire at the bees and he used the droppings from under a fir tree and told us it was the best fuel he had found for the smoker in lots of years.

Think I will be try this as my first go on the smoker.

 

[Rosti]

Only recently caught up with this thread. Bad luck Ben, by the way!

I am with Heather I think, smoking is an option but not always desirable, esp this time of year. having laid down a load of nectar we dont want the girls gorging on it again and they should be reasonably docile at this time of year, if not then perhaps there is a more significant cause? Just taking a feeder off or anything that does not invade the brood nest could hopefully be done without smoke?

As for protection ... hope for the best, plan for the worst! Ben was just unlucky that he over-looked the velcro, it's not like he was taking a 'gung-ho' approach, far from it reading his post. At least it was an oversight, couple of weeks back I used a pair of rubber gloves that I knew had a hole in, yorkshire tendencies stopped me throwing them away, one of the girls found said 3mm hole and pinged me, no excuses, serves me right!

Quote Heather: "If they are 'lively' then a little smoke-ok- but I have worked a hive with people that start off by guffing a load in the door space - then more guffs under the crown board..."

On using smoke though (and received learning not home grown). Why puff in the entrance (like I always have) when you can just put a single puff up through the OMF (assumes you are on a floor stand granted)? Simple and direct ultimately using less smoke but better directed - thanks to Sky Draggon for pointing out the bleeding obvious to me though!

 

[Hackney]

Sugar water spray was suggested to me recently - supposedly gets them indoors out of the rain, and / or interested in the sugar, without triggering the forest fire evacuation response, which they must take a while to recover from.

 

[Teemore]

Lorenzo Langstroff generally only relied on sugared water trickled over the frames of the hive he was inspecting - he reserved smoke for the awkward colonies... I find that i generally only need to use a mist of water to clear my bees from the edges of the brood box when reassembling after an inspection and this has been true of the other colonies I have worked with this year. There have only been a couple of colonies that needed smoke (and they are now marked for possible requeening next year...) and that was probably because the owner of the Orchard they were in made several visits to the hives each day either in his tractor or landrover and so managed to 'irritate' the colonies.
I think the hardest things about using a smoker is getting it lit properly and not over using it.

 

[richardbees]

"Lorenzo Langstroff generally only relied on sugared water "

Yes but back in those days I don't think they'd yet invented the Machine Gun, Hand grenades and Napalm......honeybees are quick learners!!!

I now solely use old hessian sacking - once a smoker size 'roll' of it is properly alight it lasts for over 30 mins and has a pleasantish smell.

 

[Vergilius]

Thanks for the correspondence on my little tale. When to smoke and when not to smoke is a very interesting topic. Normally, I find that removing and replacing the feeder does not require the help of the smoker. Don't get me wrong though, I would never even lift the corner of the crownboard of the colony in question without filling the air with smoke!



Ben P

 

[Heather]

BEN Don't get me wrong though, I would never even lift the corner of the crownboard of the colony in question without filling the air with smoke!



AAaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! why do I waste time typing....

Why why why do you think you HAVE to smoke when you lift a corner of a cover board. Work slowly and gently - no sudden movements- and leave the b....y smoker to one side. It is there if you have a problem- NOT to asphyxiate your colony into submission.

In my opinion - again I rest my case

 

[Vergilius]

Why why why do you think you HAVE to smoke when you lift a corner of a cover board.

Heather,


Before swarm left new, young queen-no smoke!

Now- smoke definately required every time!






Ben P

 

[richardbees]

Totally agree Heather....

however it's always nice to have the reassurance of a quietly smoking smoker handy just in case you fumble and upset the residents.

Richard

 

[Heather]

Ben will learn as he gets more experienced
I try to remember to have one near- insurance .
I usually end up with smoke wafting in my face - I mutter something rude and kick it far away, thinking how much worse it would have been in the face of a tiny insect!

 

[Vergilius]

Ben will learn as he gets more experienced

Hopefully!!!!




Ben P

 

[Heather]

We are all learning- every time we open a hive - that's the fun of it.
And why 4 bee keepers give 5 answers

 

[nonstandard]

I now solely use old hessian sacking - once a smoker size 'roll' of it is properly alight it lasts for over 30 mins and has a pleasantish smell.

I agree with hessian, I have a source of used coffee sacks and find that if you initially light some newspaper in the base of the smoker and then put in a 'roll' of hessian the smoker will still be alight even after nearly an hour of not being used; this makes it is really useful as a backup. The other bonus is that it burns down to next to nothing and does not create lots of tar and noxious smoke like cardboard does.