Congrats on the install
as to the smoker
Practice,Practice,Practice, Practice,
To me the answer IS !! what you have as the starter,
then of course pump it every now and then :-D
What I think happens most often is, your busy
in the bees and don't stop for a moment
too pump it a few times
If I know I'll be in them for a long time or doing
a few hives I get some small pieces of wood burning
this way If I forget it and the weeds or needles burn off
I can add more and will get smoke due to the wood that
still is burning some kinda like carcoal