Smoker

[Silverbone]

What does everyone use in there smoker?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

dried rotten wood, wood shavings.

 

[alfazer]

My go-to is shredded paper but I often use dried rotten wood or egg boxes.
Problem is, I find the paper leaves a lot of tar in the smoker.

 

[pargyle]

It's a question that comes up regularly ... You could read through this thread as a starting point but people who have not contributed in the past will, no doubt, give you even more ideas.....

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=33951&highlight=smoker+fuel

For what it's worth I use the shavings from my woodturnings in my smoker - tend to be mainly ash, sycamore, oak and other British hardwoods, it gives a fairly nice smelling smoke, lights well, stays lit and does not produce a lot of resin which some smoker fuels do. I start the smoker up with a few finely cut splinters of wood and one of those kitchen blow torches.

Having said that ... I very rarely, if ever, have to use my smoker on the bees - I have it lit and in the corner of the apiary 'just in case' but I find that my bees work reasonably well without being doused in smoke.

 

[Tremyfro]

People use lots of different fuels. I like dried pine needles...OH likes cardboard and wood shavings. We put a little bit of grass in the opening...apparently it cools the smoke...though when he puffed the smoke on my hand...it still felt pretty warm to me!

 

[JWF]

Following a recommendation on here, I add a hand full of lavender clippings to the top of mine. The sweet smell helps calm the beekeeper, and hopefully the bees too

 

[deanrpwaacs]

Oak bark and light with a plumbers tourch . Or use rotten birch . Plenty of that about .

 

[enrico]

Smoke!

 

[madasafish]

Wood shavings for easier lighting, rotten birch and willow. Offcuts from my woodworking (a pretentious word for wood bodging).

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It came out in the talk he gave at the WBKA convention that Clive De Bruyn prefers dried elephant turds when he can get it

 

[linoleum bonypart]

My fave is rolled up Hessian ex coffee sacks... I've saved and dried cut sunflower stalks as an experiment

 

[chrisb]

cardboard rolls, only due to costing nothing, and cotton flack and husks.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

Following a recommendation on here, I add a hand full of lavender clippings to the top of mine. The sweet smell helps calm the beekeeper, and hopefully the bees too

Me too.

CVB

 

[BeeJayBee]

Any old bits of dried wood, topped with some fresh grass because it's meant to 'cool' the smoke. I've no idea if it works!

Don't ever use Laurel in a smoker, it's poisonous.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

I add a teaspoonful of incense grains.

Don't know if the bees are affected by it, but it makes me feel mellow!

Dusty

 

[misterbee82]

Don't own a smoker yet, but need to acquire one soon

 

[REDWOOD]

Rotted wood dried over winter, the stuff that breaks apart in your hands has no or little resin and gives a white, not blue smoke. Be careful of hessian sacks and cardboard as they can contain a fire retardant and/or rodent repelant.

 

[chrisb]

good advise as yes some cardboard is coated with such
I am lucky as some containers we get are divided in the boxes by thin single sided board they are non waxed and due to the requirements can not have any chemical additives included withing the packaging material
pity is we never get enough of them !

 

[Martin Bee]

Following a visit from a Canadian beek I now use the dried flower/seed heads of the Stag-horn Sumach (Rhus typhina) which are still on the bush from last year. They keep smoking well as the seed has an oil content but don't flare. I always have a smoker for inspections but only use it if necessary as with tbh only one comb exposed at a time.

 

[Brigsy]

I add a teaspoonful of incense grains.



Don't know if the bees are affected by it, but it makes me feel mellow!



Dusty

Does this make the bees genuflect?