Smoker fuel?

[jezd]

spent the entire season using the packaging material supplied by thornez when buying stuff, over a few shipments mind

 

[rolande]

spent the entire season using the packaging material supplied by thornez when buying stuff, over a few shipments mind

Hi,

Not those blasted polystyrene balls that seem to leap out of their boxes and keep turning up for weeks aterwards I hope?!

Best,
Roland

 

[crazy_bull]

I bought a sack of wood chips of National Bee supplies (I believe 'Thomas' supplied them), and only because Bill said i should try it(i used to use dried rotten wood with the consistency of balsa wood which is an excellent fuel if you can find enough which i never could) this sack of chips cost £20 and has lasted all season it lights very easily and stays lit without continuous puffing, and produces a fairly cool consitent smoke.

If you can find it Finman is spot on, the dried rotten wood found in old tree stumps is the fuel you really want, dry it out completely and it won't let you down.

C B

 

[Frithgar]

The other thread with the same name I've said what I use (hessian sacking) so I won't repeat it all. The closest beek to me uses orange peel (other thread as well) along with any wood lying around. We're out in the countryside here so there is always scrap of wood in the hedge or lying around so never have a shortage of fuel, if it's not smokey enough then just stuff in a little green grass on the top, makes nice thick white smoke.

 

[jezd]

Hi,

Not those blasted polystyrene balls that seem to leap out of their boxes and keep turning up for weeks aterwards I hope?!

Best,
Roland

naaa, shredded cardboard, lots of it

 

[Dishmop]

spent the entire season using the packaging material supplied by thornez when buying stuff, over a few shipments mind

You mean the shredded cardboard?

I mix stuff like that with wood shavings as per rabbit bedding.

 

[psafloyd]

spent the entire season using the packaging material supplied by thornez when buying stuff, over a few shipments mind

I am saving mine for that very reason. Looks useful stuff until I can cut the grass at the allotment to dry it out.
.

 

[harveyzone]

I have a large pile of coarsely chipped wood that I have collected after putting around 4 trees trough a shredder. If I dried some of this out, is it likely to be suitable? If so I have several decades supply if it doesn't rot first

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

naaa, shredded cardboard, lots of it

I found that gave off a nasty acrid smoke which didnt put the girls in a very good mood. Probably not always the same quality

 

[Dishmop]

I have a large pile of coarsely chipped wood that I have collected after putting around 4 trees trough a shredder. If I dried some of this out, is it likely to be suitable? If so I have several decades supply if it doesn't rot first

Put it in pretty bags and sell it on a well known auction site.

 

[rowbow]

I use lavender cuttings saved after Autumn pruning plus rotten rotten wood, picked up when walking the dogs in the woods.

John

 

[PeteS]

Put it in pretty bags and sell it on a well known auction site.

Now there's a thought! I do a fair bit of woodturning as a hobby and have recently been making some ash plates and platters. My workshop is knee deep in ash shavings so all I need is a load of small plastic bags and 'Robert is your mother's brother'.

Pete

 

[Dishmop]

Robert is your mother's brother

Not the best name for a bag of wood shavings tho..

 

[PeteS]

Good point, although in my defence I am in the very early stages of the marketing plan...i.e. Only just thought of it

 

[iball]

Not the best name for a bag of wood shavings tho..

I would have thought that Bernard would be a better name?

Ian

 

[Erichalfbee]

Good point, although in my defence I am in the very early stages of the marketing plan...i.e. Only just thought of it

Do you think that wood based cat litter would work? Just think how many little bags with the BBKA logo on you could parcel up out of one Morrisons bag

 

[Gardenbees]

I generally avoid using smoke - it can so easily make the honey taste smoky, is a fire hazard in hot summers, and isn't ideal for the bees - it's a sign of danger for them, after all. But there's no denying how useful it is if you've got to really set to and handle the frames a lot. In which case, Finman is right: anything pine-y or resin-y tends to produce tar. I find dried stalks from leopardsbane, lavender or sunflowers are quite good (or anything else kicking around the garden that isn't tarry or poisonous). These are easy to keep dry, and catch quickly (I never use very much smoke for very long, so it doesn't matter if the smoker burns out fairly soon). A handful of damp grass on top cools the smoke and prolongs it a bit.

Or I just use a mist of cold water with a tiny bit of essential oil of lavender or peppermint (i.e. less than a drop per bottle) - it's just enough to mask the bees' communication smells, and doesn't affect the honey. It also doesn't cause lots of honey-guzzling by the bees.

If you have hundreds of hives, it's a different matter.... hemp sacking, rolled up, seems to stay smoky for quite a while, so I'd probably use that if I had a load of hives to look at and really wanted to use smoke.

 

[PeteS]

Do you think that wood based cat litter would work? Just think how many little bags with the BBKA logo on you could parcel up out of one Morrisons bag

I'm sure you can although I'm not too sure as to what's been added in the manufacturing process.

I may experiment with different woods that I turn as some can be very fragrant. Eucalyptus has a very nice citronella smell.

Pete

 

[For want of a better word]

Grandad always smoked Wills Wiffs...... never saw him use a smoker... but he would puff a bit of smoke into the hive as he worked.......

What would the Class ? Banned Hash grass stuff do ???????

 

[tonybloke]

I reckon the bees would be 'chilled out, man' LOL