Welcome, Guest

Author Topic: Favorite smoker fuel  (Read 80581 times)

Offline snowzerdog

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 108
Favorite smoker fuel
« Reply #20 on: June 09, 2004, 03:54:28 pm »
tried the cardboard,  works great has me sold on it
 :D
God doesn't owe you anything, but you owe everything to God!

Offline Finman

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 440
Favorite smoker fuel
« Reply #21 on: June 10, 2004, 07:09:26 am »
I use shelf  fungus Inonotus obliquus in smoker champer. It grows in birch. Also decayed  birch is good.

http://www.uni-greifswald.de/~mycology/gallery/Bilder/Inonotus%20obliquus.jpg  
 It burns very slowly and makse blue smoke.

White smoke makes tar and it gives bad taste in honey.

Offline BigRog

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 111
Favorite smoker fuel
« Reply #22 on: June 10, 2004, 10:38:56 am »
Quote from: Finman
I use shelf  fungus Inonotus obliquus in smoker champer. It grows in birch. Also decayed  birch is good.

http://www.uni-greifswald.de/~mycology/gallery/Bilder/Inonotus%20obliquus.jpg  
 It burns very slowly and makse blue smoke.

White smoke makes tar and it gives bad taste in honey.


OK
How do you use it. Does it have to be dried?
Does it have to be fresh? Or can you harvest a lot of it and store it for future use?
"Lurch my good man,…what did you mean when you said just now that 'You've got better things to do than run my petty little errands'…….?"

Offline lobstafari

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 71
Favorite smoker fuel
« Reply #23 on: June 10, 2004, 05:45:58 pm »
Ive been using pine needles this year, because theyre all over the ground by the hives, and Ive been short on time, BUT:
 Last year, when I was a bit more ambitious, I sat down one rainy day, and cut cardboard strips as wide as my smoker is deep, and burlap the same, and rolled them together (alternating) into little canister shapes that slid right in the smoker. I liked them far better than pine needles, but havent had time to make a bunch up yet.

davlanders

  • Guest
Smoker Fuel
« Reply #24 on: June 23, 2004, 01:09:24 am »
I think I've come up with the perfect combination.

Burlap cut into 5-6" strips rolled around some pine needles and insterted into a toilet paper roll.  Lights fast, burns long, and has a moderate amount of smoke.  

I tried it tonite, think it works pretty good.

Let  me know what you think.

Offline Beth Kirkley

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 103
    • http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/GA216.html
Favorite smoker fuel
« Reply #25 on: June 23, 2004, 01:31:02 am »
LOL - I know I need to figure out something better than what I'm using. I can't seem to get the smoker to stay lit at all. The pine needles are wet from rain - so no good. And the rope suggest above didn't work for me. Maybe I'm using the wrong rope, but it just won't smolder like I'd want, just keeps going out. I even tried string dipped in wax!
I'll be shopping for some burlap tomorrow I think. And I'll try this idea. :)

Beth

Offline Lesli

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 420
Favorite smoker fuel
« Reply #26 on: June 23, 2004, 08:03:28 am »
I went to a beekeepers club meeting, and the smoker fuel was, among other things, those fist-sized seed pods from sumac. Since sumac grows like a weed around here, it's abundant and free.
**************************
Lesli

Offline tejas

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 78
    • http://www.A-1gutters.com
Favorite smoker fuel
« Reply #27 on: July 06, 2004, 11:38:09 pm »
After reading a few of the post here I tried cardboard and it worked great. I just cut a strip about 4 inches wide and about 3 ft. long rolled it up. It lit very easy put out plenty of smoke.

Offline latebee

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 314
cardboard for smoker fuel
« Reply #28 on: August 16, 2004, 12:43:15 am »
I prefer cardboard as a smoker fuel as long as it is the corrugated type. Cut it so when you place it in your smoker the corrugate runs vertical(up and down) this helps pruduce plenty of smoke. Cut it just wide enough so it is below the cover of your smoker. Make the roll to any size diameter-depends how long you want smoke(experience will tell you) and I prefer to ignite it with a propane torch,because it is very quick. Once it is lit swing it back and forth by forcing air through the corugates and it will stay lit , then place in smoker. Its free,and from my experience produces a cool smoke. I dont use solid or cardboard without corrugatiion because it wont stay lit.
The person who walks in another's tracks leaves NO footprints.

Offline Hilltop

  • New Bee
  • *
  • Posts: 3
any thing will do
« Reply #29 on: August 19, 2004, 05:08:36 pm »
Hi
What to use in a smoker? I use anything that is handy, old blue jeans, dry horse dumng, pine cones, anything that is in the woods or near me at the tme. I have used mint from my garden.
Donna
Bee Good

Offline SageBrush

  • New Bee
  • *
  • Posts: 9
Favorite smoker fuel
« Reply #30 on: August 20, 2004, 09:39:14 am »
:idea:  My favorite smoker fuel is wood shavings for the 'hamsters'. I get the cedar shavings in large bales from Walmart or any pet store. I keep a bucket of wood shavings on the truck. Second choice is pine straw. Saw dust works too, but it burns quick. The cedar shavings smell nice.  :wink:

Offline Sting

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 60
Smoker Fuel
« Reply #31 on: August 20, 2004, 11:50:20 am »
Cedar bark wworks great; especially if it is fairly dry.  I've been stripping an old fence for years for smoker fuel.
"Where the bee sucks, there suck I." William Shakespeare: The Tempest.

My apiary is about 17 kms. (10 miles) NW (back & left) of this web-cam view:  'See any of my girls?
http://www.parliamenthill.gc.ca/text/hillcam_e.html

Anonymous

  • Guest
Favorite smoker fuel
« Reply #32 on: October 02, 2004, 10:41:02 am »
Intresting to read that Sumac is not only a good smoker fuel but a bit of a mite control also.

 :D Al

Offline beesharp

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 58
  • Gender: Male
    • http://sharptelco.com
Smoker Fuel
« Reply #33 on: October 03, 2004, 10:05:52 am »
Just thought I would add my favorite to the list. Cow Patties!  :roll:

I get a little fire burning with dryer lint and small wood scraps,
then toss in some broken up cow patties. Before ya gross out,
they are really dried out, so there's no odor at all.
Cheap, easy to light and a nice cool smoke. I would compare
cow patties' smoke quality to the smoker plugs. I like those too,
but have a hard time buying something to burn...
Jim

Offline pardee

  • New Bee
  • *
  • Posts: 22
Favorite smoker fuel
« Reply #34 on: January 25, 2005, 12:25:30 am »
Cedar chips the kind you buy for the hamster, it starts quick and after you get it going in burns a long time makes tons of cool white smoke that smells good.

Offline ibeecanadian

  • New Bee
  • *
  • Posts: 38
Favorite smoker fuel
« Reply #35 on: January 25, 2005, 12:43:10 am »
i use cedar chips aswell. i get them free at the sawmill. they are always happy to get rid of them. its best if you wait till they plain the lumber right from the dry kiln. ive also used dry cedar leaves, (bouse?) it works good but doesnt last as long as the chips.

Offline beemaster

  • Site Founder
  • Administrator
  • Galactic Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 6457
  • Gender: Male
  • It is my pleasure to bring the forums to you.
    • http://www.beemaster.com
Favorite smoker fuel
« Reply #36 on: January 25, 2005, 01:33:02 am »
Interesting how some posts return like the previous season of the Sapranos - lol. It is interesting to see the different fuels. I only mention it again because it's up the page about 11 months back that I use clean washed burlap used to wrap clean rags bought through work.

The rags are old clothing ripped into square foot sections and bundled in burlap in 40 pound squares. The burlap gets thrown out, so I grab it up as we go through bundles of rags.

I then take the burlap and cut in roughly foot square sheets. Two dozen sheets lasts me a full season typically, give or take a few.
NJBeemaster my YOUTUBE Video Collection

Please enjoy the forum, and if it has helped you in any way, we hope that a small donation can be made to support our FULLY member supported forum. You will never see advertisements here, and that is because of the generous members who have made our forum possible. We are in our second decade as a beekeeping forum and all thanks to member support. At the top right of every page is a donations link. Please help if you can.

Offline buzz

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 148
  • Gender: Male
    • My home page... nothing much
Favorite smoker fuel
« Reply #37 on: January 25, 2005, 01:57:57 am »
You're lucky beemaster :lol: I used burlap last year, from burlap bags I bought at Army Navy. It works great, but I want to find something that I can get for free this year. I will probabbly check out the pine needle thing first.
Scott
----------
"If you have no money and you have few possessions, if you have a dog you are still rich"
----------
"Forgiveness is easier to get than permission"

Offline asleitch

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 202
Favorite smoker fuel
« Reply #38 on: January 25, 2005, 05:00:49 am »
Just one tip, put the back of your hand, near your wrist about 1 inch from the mouth of the smoker, and puff the smoker. It the smoke passing over your skin is too hot for you to stand, it's certainly going to be too hot for the bees. I attended a lecture from a commercial beekeeper that has worked all over the world in developing countries, as a bee inspector and various other roles and he said one of the #1 mistakes of people who use smoke is that have it too hot. It needs to be cool.

A quick puff on the back of you wrist (a little like testing the water in a bath for babies with your elbow) before smoking a hive gives a reasonable measure of temperatue. He reckons if its hot to the point of discomfort, it's too hot. I tried this a few times, and found dry grass/cardboard often burn too hot.

Adam

Offline BigRog

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 111
Favorite smoker fuel
« Reply #39 on: January 25, 2005, 09:13:57 am »
Always wondered if the heat from the smoke was harming the bees. But I use burlap - purchased at a garden store - and I usuall can smoke from a foot or more away
"Lurch my good man,…what did you mean when you said just now that 'You've got better things to do than run my petty little errands'…….?"

 

anything