Beekeeping Made Easy

                      The bee smoker

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  The bee smoker is a vital tool for working with bees.  A hive tool helps too.

This is a page from the Glory Bee Foods, Inc. mail order catalog for 2000. Their web site is:  www.glorybee.com .

Smokers           

Bee smokers come in a variety of sizes from small to large.  The smoker is a container that holds some burning material and is enclosed with a spout to direct the smoke in the direction it is pointed.  To enable the fire to burn, oxygen is provided by a bellows attached to the firebox.  The more the bellows are worked, the greater the amount of oxygen sent to the firebox and if used improperly the smoker can become a virtual blow torch.   However, the beekeeper want a gentle white smoke to subdue the bees, not a blow torch to kill them.

The reaction of bees to smoke varies on colony populations, internal and external conditions and use of the smoke it self.  Too much smoke may cause the bees to run, to cluster on and under frames, run out the front of the hive, or just drop to the bottom board in a stupor.    Generally speaking, a few puffs of smoke directed across the top bars of a hive body will drive back guard bees and other bees will retreat to the nearest honey cell to engorge themselves.   This smoke forces the bees downward and away from the top bars allowing the beekeeper to work the hive with little aggression from the bees.

Some rules in using a smoker!

• Light the smoker before working with the bees or opening a hive.
• Keep the smoker going during any inspection of the hive.  A smoker not lit well will go out at the most inopportune time.
• Select a fuel that will produce a cool white smoke.
• Fuel needs oxygen to burn.  Don't be in a hurry to fill the firebox with fuel.  Get a small quantity of fuel burning nicely before adding more fuel.  Once you have a bed of glowing coals established, you can fill the smoker with the remaining fuel.  A few puffs on the bellows every now and then will keep the smoker going.

Fuels used to burn in smokers:

• Dry rags
• Pine needles
• punk dry wood
• burlap bags or material made of burlap
• Bailer twine
• Straw
• Dried cow chips
• newspaper
• Sumac bobs - dried flower parts
• cattle bedding/ wood chips

The important thing about fuel is to find a readily available source which is free or cheap and use it and store some for future use.

The hive tool         

A good pry tool to separate the hive parts and something to raise frames from the frame rest is invaluable.  Some beekeepers use just a common screwdriver.  I have found that the standard hive tool is better.  It can be used to scrape burr comb, propolis, etc. from frames or hive bodies.  I even use mine to scrape paint from hive bodies before repainting.

Bee brush 

It brushes bees off comb etc.  It is nice to have.  I use mine in my saw room to brush saw dust away from my saw blade.  Several old bee books suggested that the beekeeper take a hand full of stiff grass to brush bees off comb.  The grass is free.

Frame Grip

Used to remove frames from the hive.   I guess these are designed for the individual who does not want to get stung while trying to remove frames from a hive.  However, they are practically worthless if the frames are glued in by the bees.  It will still take a hive tool to pry the frames loose.

Porter Bee Escapes

A rather nice gadget that has been around for a long time.  It can be placed in the hole of an inner cover and used when it comes time to get the bees out of supers at extracting/harvest time.  This will be discussed under the topic -- removing honey.

Acid boards, Cone Bee Escapes

These will also be discussed in the topic -- removing honey.  The cone bee escape is used somewhat like the porter bee escape above and acid boards are used with Bee-go or honey robber  to drive the bees out of the honey supers.