Smokers

[Susan1]

I was just wondering does everyone use a smoker? I very rarely do and was thinking should I? The bees I have are fairly docile and I use a soft brush to move them on a bit when I am replacing crown boards etc. Is there something I am missing by not using one do you think? Would be interested to hear opinions on this.
I have three hives and one nuc at the moment am only a hobby beekeeper and have been beekeeping for nine years now. Still not sure what I am doing most of the time but getting there .

 

[Erichalfbee]

Not at all wrong
I rarely use my smoker though it’s always lit when I tend the bees
I have tasted some really smokey honey in the past so I guess some people really do like their smoker

 

[Beefriendly]

As Erica . But mine is usually lit for the few occasions I do need it and I also use it to move bees away from edges before replacing crownboards suopers etc.

 

[madasafish]

I always light mine. Always (After some fractious nuc boiled over and stung me about 15 times and I could not control them)

But only use them to clear bees from box edges when reassembling or on one horrible hive - since requeened two weeks ago...that reuired LOTS of smoke after inspecting each frame or they would boil up ... really nasty..


I always have a smoker ready to light - and with a blowtorch and dried rotten wood as a base - takes 30 seconds tops.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I was just wondering does everyone use a smoker? I very rarely do and was thinking should I? The bees I have are fairly docile and I use a soft brush to move them on a bit when I am replacing crown boards etc. Is there something I am missing by not using one do you think? Would be interested to hear opinions on this.
I have three hives and one nuc at the moment am only a hobby beekeeper and have been beekeeping for nine years now. Still not sure what I am doing most of the time but getting there .

I always have it handy just in case but rarely use it, apart from for moving bees out the way when putting the hive back together.
Many bees react negatively to smoke, I think that is a lot of the problem out in Africa the brits seem to love to chant the same old mantra the 'accepted wisdom' of the certificate wavers - never challenged, never tested but it must be true 'bacause it is!' over the decades people have gone to Africa with the believe that scutellata are vicious and teach everyone to pour gouts of smoke into the hives, chanting the old 'primeval forest fires' story - I found that scutellata detest smoke and became agressive because of it, many a time I forgot to use any smoke and the bees were as gentle as lambs.
I think it's the same over here. I dom't like using a brush, if I need to move bees on a comb I just blow on them, using smoke around the edges of the boxes to move the bees before closing up.
People are taught to use smoke as a weapon rather than a tool unfortunately

 

[drex]

As above, always lit, just in case. Occasionally used.

 

[enrico]

If you are happy not to use a smoker buy a can of fabispray for your kit. It is an aerosol smoke substitute. The bees hate it but for that odd occasion when they ' boil' and you just need to get the lid back on! I have one with me for emergencies.
E

 

[birdsandbees]

"People are taught to use smoke as a weapon rather than a tool unfortunately"

Absolutely! as everyone else, it's always lit but only ever used gently as a tool when reassembling or just moving them out of the way.
you do see far too many making the hive disappear in a fog before they even open it!

 

[SWEET]

Ive started opening the hives without smoke and all seems fine, I'm only using it when replacing QE and boxes so as not to crush them.

On the nasty hive they get a good blast, not to relax them but to drive them down into the frames.

Unsure smoke calms them, it prob strikes utter fear into the poor things.

 

[maz0]

"People are taught to use smoke as a weapon rather than a tool unfortunately"

Absolutely! as everyone else, it's always lit but only ever used gently as a tool when reassembling or just moving them out of the way.
you do see far too many making the hive disappear in a fog before they even open it!

Probably because beginners are taught that using smoke makes the bee's gorge on honey and become docile, so it should be used as a prevention rather than a cure....hence most beginners empty the equivalent of a house fires worth of smoke into a hive, worried if they don't they will be attacked by grumpy bee's.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Probably because beginners are taught that using smoke makes the bee's gorge on honey and become docile.

another dollop of accepted wisdom with little evidence of fact

 

[Finman]

Not a BIG deal. £ 25. Use or not.

.

 

[birdsandbees]

Unsure smoke calms them, it prob strikes utter fear into the poor things.

It certainly disrupts them more than needed, it's no wonder many newbees struggle to find the queen, she and her clan are probably cowering in the bottom of the hive, that is after being driven to the top first when the entrance is blasted prior to opening up.

I've seen so much more natural behavior since hardly using any smoke, bees just getting on with things when the frames are gently lifted out.

I have definitley noticed that as JBM said with Scutellata, some bees hate being smoked and are actually more defensive when smoked.

 

[Angry_Mob]

I usually don't bother and use my clove cloth instead, much more versatile.

 

[Beefriendly]

another dollop of accepted wisdom with little evidence of fact

They will gorge on honey even if you don't use any smoke. Doesn't take a genius to figure that a more probable explanation is the disturbance upon opening a hive that is causing the reaction.

 

[SDM]

Read a study recently comparing various smoker materials, some better than others but all reduced the defensiveness of the bees to a degree. Not the one I'm thinking of, but in a similar vein and
Certainly ties in with what I see. I put a small puff of smoke under the mesh floor before opening the hive, my bees are always placid, but it seems obvious to me that a puff of smoke buys 5 minutes where they are hard to upset.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...Vaw3gve7unaEEXBWJo3mNuP1I&cshid=1563308114665

 

[beebopper]

Don’t know what I am doing wrong. Always smoke hives now. I find I can sometimes get away without for minor inspections but have had a few occasions when I have not used smoke and for some reason they randomly burst out looking for something to sting. Previous week no problem. So now I am back to giving a few puffs as a precaution.

 

[B+.]

I was just wondering does everyone use a smoker? I very rarely do and was thinking should I? The bees I have are fairly docile and I use a soft brush to move them on a bit when I am replacing crown boards etc. Is there something I am missing by not using one do you think? Would be interested to hear opinions on this.
I have three hives and one nuc at the moment am only a hobby beekeeper and have been beekeeping for nine years now. Still not sure what I am doing most of the time but getting there .

I do own one. The last time I opened it a field mouse had made its nest in it so I left it be.
I don't use one because as soon as you light it, you've affected their behaviour in ways you can't really understand. How, then, can you determine what is their natural behaviour and how much is due to the effects of the smoke?
I always remember something my wife said as part of a pre-Phd course she did: as soon as you interfere with a scenario (experiment), you become part of it and affect the results.That has always troubled me because even measuring something involves some degree of participation in the event you're measuring.

 

[SWEET]

Simple test, get a mate to blast it into your face, do you feel all happy and chilled? or angry and about to beat him to death with it? ha.

 

[BMH]

Simple test, get a mate to blast it into your face, do you feel all happy and chilled? or angry and about to beat him to death with it? ha.

Depends what you are using as fuel???