Smoker recommendations

[jenkinsbrynmair]

where UK are Dadant smoker available as this is my next investment also

Thornes have them back in stock now, modern beekeeping and National bee supplies (a tad more expensive than the others though)

 

[alfazer]

Apart from looking nice, is there any functional advantage to a copper smoker over a stainless one?

 

[madasafish]

Apart from looking nice, is there any functional advantage to a copper smoker over a stainless one?

It cools down quicker... and dents easier.. and polishes up better...

For those who like to live in the past

 

[Quis Custodiet]

Why, according to you, is owning / using copper smokers a prerogative of "those who like to live in the past?

Not everyone started bee keeping the year before last and not so long ago there were no stainless steel smokers, one had a choice of tinned steel or copper. The former had a very short life with even moderate use, the latter being made with heavier gauge copper than that used today lasted indefinitely.
Taylors made excellent smokers.

 

[alfazer]

So it sounds to me that a copper smoker is perhaps more nostalgic than a stainless one. I would consider that a positive thing, but not something I'd get worked up about.

 

[Finman]

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To me aluminium smoker is nostalgic... If I want to see it so...

 

[BeeJayBee]

It doesn't really matter what a smoker is made of, as long as it works. My Dadant works. My cheapo Thornes-sale one, bought to be a spare, doesn't.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It's not the fact that I smoke a lot or have defensive bees it just runs out of fuel too quick if I have to do a few bits and pieces as well as just plain inspections, I carry lumps of wood in my pockets for topping it up but it would be much easier to have a bigger smoker

There's someone on fleabay at the moment selling Dadant size smokers but quite a bit cheaper

This one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Beekeepin...627781?hash=item1c6716bd45:g:Lu4AAOSwB9xXOe15

Or this one - a snip at £19.00. It's not actually a Dadant mind

 

[GoEnviro]

£50 does not make it a cheap smoker.
What is it about it that makes it so much better than a cheap ebay/thornes model??

 

[sugarbush]

My eBay smoker is still going strong although I wish I had a bigger one

They come in all sizes... my largest requires two hands to operate and usually ends up with the fire department showing up. (The one in the center)

 

[Gilberdyke John]

It doesn't really matter what a smoker is made of, as long as it works. My Dadant works. My cheapo Thornes-sale one, bought to be a spare, doesn't.

How so? Does it not have a bellows, a container for fuel, a lid with a spout and lighted fuel within it?

 

[Bee Bumble]

They come in all sizes... my largest requires two hands to operate and usually ends up with the fire department showing up. (The one in the center)

Is that a home made device or is it intended for a purpose other than beekeeping? Please tell.

 

[sugarbush]

Is that a home made device or is it intended for a purpose other than beekeeping? Please tell.

Oh it is a commercially made unit for beekeeping, I bought it as a novelty, but it is for working africanized honey bee hives. It can really lay down some smoke.

 

[BeeJayBee]

It doesn't really matter what a smoker is made of, as long as it works. My Dadant works. My cheapo Thornes-sale one, bought to be a spare, doesn't.

How so? Does it not have a bellows, a container for fuel, a lid with a spout and lighted fuel within it?

How so? - I don't know!

Same fuel, same beekeeper etc but, if I light them both at the same time and leave them sitting, the Thornes one goes out the Dadant doesn't. If I do an inspection using the Thornes one it goes out, and keeps going out. The Thornes one was very cheap, may have been an import specially for the 'sale' (no previous price mentioned), and simply doesn't do the job it's meant to do.

The Thornes one has very noisy bellows, but apart from that they seem very similar. As you say, both have a fire box, lid, vent for air etc and it seems inconceivable that one should work and the other doesn't.

I don't know what makes the Dadant one so much better and so reliable but I'd never swap it, and I wouldn't try to sell the other one to another beekeeper because it's useless.

 

[Finman]

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I think that if one smoker does not work, then buy another one.

I bought Vulcano smoker. It is funny, but not good in working. It has a clock spring, which gives power to blower.

I cannot understand, why £ 50 value smoker can be better than £ 20 smoker, if boath give smoke.




.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I don't know what makes the Dadant one so much better and so reliable

Strange innit - there should be no difference. I had a Dadant as a birthday present this year to replace my trusty fleabay special which has done sterling work for years and is now a spare. I can't believe it's so easy to light - using exactly the same fuel as before, just a twist of paper gets it going, even if the paper's only smouldering it soon fires up and belching flames within seconds which gets even the biggest lump of wood smouldering in no time. Once it settles down, it will burn down to the last measly scrap of fuel with little ash, and even plugged up for the 10-15 minute drive between apiaries, all it needs is a quick shake the other end and a good puff of air and it's going again.
The smoker seems to 'tick over' without the occasional puff of the bellows to keep going, just needs one puff to generate copious smoke again.
Only last week I forgot the smoker next to a hive in the home apiary whilst taking a telephone conference during a work break - forty minutes later, popped up to get it and it was still going great guns!
Only gripe is it burns a bit hot but as I don't pump gouts of smoke into the hive anyway that's not really an issue.

 

[Cussword]

Are small pine cones any use as smoker fuel? I have access to quite a lot.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Are small pine cones any use as smoker fuel? I have access to quite a lot.

Lot of tar; clean the smoker hole and leave the smoker OPEN as it cools. Otherwise perfect.


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[alfazer]

Am I right in thinking that a Dadant smoker is a shape/style/type of smoker rather than an actual brandname?

 

[fatshark]

Nope ... it's a brand name. Dadant. They do a couple of sizes - about 7" and 10" tall. Buy the bigger one, they're about the same price.

PS Note that the Thorne pic shows the one with the heat shield, but they actually appear to supply the model without ...