smoker fuel and lighting

[psafloyd]

whats the best smoker fuel and the best way to get it started,,I've just been using rolled up cardboard this whole season but I feel it doesn't last long enough and feels slightly hot. I know its supposed to be cool smoke. would love to hear all thoughts

Cut back your lavender (good time to get a year's supply), dry it and use that. It burns nicely, is cooler than grass and the bees much prefer it to cardboard.

It does produce tar, but it's manageable and it smells nice.

Also, save orange or satsuma skins and pistachio shells.

 

[psafloyd]

The compressed cotton from our biggest beekeeping store takes a bit of lighting but burns slowly
If you have a horse owning friend Maxibed comes in 25kg bales and is good on top of the cotton
Made from shredded hemp stems it burns slow and cool with a nice smell

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It probably burns slowly for being full of fire retardants, ie chemicals. Smells bad and my bees never liked cardboard in any case.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

It probably burns slowly for being full of fire retardants, ie chemicals. Smells bad and my bees never liked cardboard in any case.

When the horse has peed on it it will be slow to ignite

 

[Karsal]

whats the best smoker fuel and the best way to get it started,,I've just been using rolled up cardboard this whole season but I feel it doesn't last long enough and feels slightly hot. I know its supposed to be cool smoke. would love to hear all thoughts

Have a walk in a wood near your home and look for a fallen rotting tree. Just flake off all the soft fibrous rotted wood and dry it out. It makes excellent free smoker fuel and does not tar up the inside of your smoker.
I also use a long handled weed burner for starting the smoker. Keeps it at arms length and away from your veil.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Have a walk in a wood near your home and look for a fallen rotting tree. Just flake off all the soft fibrous rotted wood and dry it out. It makes excellent free smoker fuel and does not tar up the inside of your smoker.

Just be careful you don't inadvertently pick up any dessicated dog turds as well - they can appear brown and sticky from a distance

 

[REDWOOD]

I often thought about cat litter pellets, handy to keep if you run out of rotted wood so I have emailed the company to see what chemicals they use to bind the product as it is being used for what it is not intended and could be giving off poisonous or cancerogenic fumes when ignited.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Maisie's now sell 'barbecue briquettes' made out of compressed cedar shavings, not meant for smokers but apparently some are using them now - I was tempted to buy a bag (I think about a fiver for ten kilos) but I'd just paid for my stuff and there was queue behind me so I left it - maybe next year

 

[Swarm]

Maisie's now sell 'barbecue briquettes' made out of compressed cedar shavings, not meant for smokers but apparently some are using them now - I was tempted to buy a bag (I think about a fiver for ten kilos) but I'd just paid for my stuff and there was queue behind me so I left it - maybe next year

I grabbed a bag when they first started these, not for the smoker but to add to the chimnea fuel. I wouldn't recommend it for the bees, seemed much too acrid to me.

 

[Millet]

It probably burns slowly for being full of fire retardants, ie chemicals. Smells bad and my bees never liked cardboard in any case.

I got a pile of stuffing and foam from someone i know who is a upholsterer, it was to make a big filter from a header tank for my pond, he never told me it had been treated with fire retardant and it killed all my koi fish within one hour, a expensive lesson was learned.

 

[dannygolf1959]

Cut back your lavender (good time to get a year's supply), dry it and use that. It burns nicely, is cooler than grass and the bees much prefer it to cardboard.

It does produce tar, but it's manageable and it smells nice.

Also, save orange or satsuma skins and pistachio shells.

what lavender lol,,,where do you get lavender in the north of scotland

 

[Zante]

what lavender lol,,,where do you get lavender in the north of scotland

Heather?

 

[BeeJayBee]

what lavender lol,,,where do you get lavender in the north of scotland

From your garden? We used to grow it in Aberdeen.

 

[madasafish]

From your garden? We used to grow it in Aberdeen.

We grew it in Banffshire when the climate was much colder..

 

[dannygolf1959]

i don't mean u can't grow it,,i mean i don't have a garden so where would i get enough to use in a smoker,,,my apiary is on someones land but thanks for all the ideas. Think it will be shavings or pine needle(straw).

 

[BeeJayBee]

You don't need very much lavender to scent a smoker so if you know somebody who's got a plant or two you could ask for their prunings, then dry and break up the bits of stalk and mix a little in with whatever else you use.

If you've got a balcony maybe you could grow a couple of plants in tubs or pots?