How To Light A Beehive Smoker
The smoker is an essential part of a beekeepers tool kit, and learning how to light a bee smoker is a core beekeeping skill.
The reasons why beekeepers use smokers will be covered in some other mail service, however, the intent here is to quickly encompass how to go about lighting and operating a smoker.
There are many means to practise it, but if you're a beginner and y'all follow the ideas presented here, then y'all should be alee of the bend!
What y'all demand
Smoker
In that location are several different varieties on the market and while they vary a lot in price, their part is essentially the same. Typically the more expensive smokers are made with more durable bellows, stronger materials and should stand up upward to commercial use for longer.
Smokers such as this Beeco smoker are slap-up quality Australian made smokers, and are recommended past a lot of beekeepers.
1 feature that we have just seen on the more expensive smokers are separate air in and out valves for the bellows going into the can. This is a expert feature every bit it tin can forbid hot ash beingness sucked out of the smoker and either into the bellows or onto the footing.
Nosotros do prefer to use the smoker linked above, but before we upgraded, we were even so quite happy with our inexpensive smoker .
Smokers besides come in different sizes, with the larger 'jumbo' smokers more than suited to commercial beekeepers who demand their smokers to run all day.
Fuel
More often than not y'all can just pick up whatever leaf litter is laying around and utilise this in your smoker. That said though, it does pay to come up prepared with smoker fuel prior to inspecting your hive every bit some days the ground may be wet and you'll have a hard time finding anything to use.
Instead, what we recommend is conveying a container with dry fuel in your apiculture kit.
Every apiculturist volition have their own favourite smoker fuel, only one that seems to be popular around the earth is pine needles. These light upwards easily, pack downwardly well and are readily available, being found in most regions. In theory, y'all can employ just near whatever dried out plant matter or kindling. Some will not exist very pleasant smelling when smouldering, but and so long as it is dry enough it should piece of work.
For Aussies, you should attempt using some dried Xanthorrhoea (grass tree/balga bush) leaves.
Another material to effort is hessian. Our mate the Bush Bee Human being uses this and information technology stays lit really well with minimal effort.
You may also want to bring forth some sheets of newspaper with you equally well. These are useful for other apiculture tasks such as uniting colonies, and when scrunched up can be handy for getting your smoker going.
Ignition source
You'll need something to light upwards with. We find the long-nosed BBQ lighters are very good.
Their long reach allows you to calorie-free down to the lesser of the smoker without burning yourself. It is handy though to carry a box of matches with y'all besides, as if the BBQ lighter runs out of gas you'll be stuck rubbing sticks together.
A cheat for igniting your smoker can also exist to use some lighter fluid or methylated spirits. Simply splash a trivial in the smoker prior to lighting. Exist careful with this of course!
Jet lighters or propane torches also get used by some beekeepers to help heat things up quickly.
Hive tool
Doesn't necessarily have to be a hive tool, merely an object that is rigid, will fit inside a smoker and can handle a bit of heat.
Grooming
So yous've gathered the above ingredients and are ready to low-cal your smoker.
In that location are some condom tips mentioned beneath, only I'll impact an important i here first.
Earlier lighting your smoker ensure you are permitted to employ ane in your location for that particular day.
Burn down restrictions apply in sure regions.
In addition, have some kind of a fire fighting plan in example a fire gets away from you.
From there, the next step is to ensure your smoker is empty.
Invariably yous may have forgotten to empty it concluding time you used information technology.
Trying to light a smoker that is already half full of ash/junk is probably one of the most mutual things that will pb you to be frustrated with the lighting process.
Merely empty it out and start fresh!
Light 'er upward!
With your empty smoker identify either ane canvass of loosely scrunched upwardly newspaper or about 5 cm in depth of pine needles (or whatever kindling you have available) into the smoker'southward cylinder.
Spark up your lighter and ignite this material from the bottom if you can. If using matches, it can assist to light your material outside of the smoker and so place it into the can when it is called-for away consistently.
Once it is ignited give some initial gentle puffs with your bellows. You want to give just enough to provoke and enhance the flames, non and so much that it blows it out.
Give that initial material a few moments to go fully alight and then loosely pack in more fuel. At this stage put in plenty to nearly fill the smoker.
This may temporarily extinguish your flames, but just continue to give some short and precipitous puffs with the bellows until this material begins to fire besides.
If done correctly, past this stage you should have quite a decent flame coming out of the tiptop of your open up smoker. Let this burn for about 10 to 20 seconds until it is dainty and hot and all the material in the smoker has defenseless debark.
Gentle but deep puffs of the smoker at this betoken tin can help become information technology roaring nicely.
At first, a lot of new beekeepers under-cook this part and don't let their smoker become going well plenty. 15-20cm flames out the top of the open lid are platonic.
From at that place you'll desire to grab your hive tool (or whatever you lot take handy) and press downwards on the called-for material. It should shrink down to about halfway in the smoker.
In one case it is compressed grab big handfuls of your fuel and pack information technology into the smoker. Once again, the flames will be extinguished, only this is what yous want. In one case y'all have adequately densely packed the smoker to the top with more than fuel, give some rapid and deep puffs of the bellows.
Puff every bit furiously as you tin and you should get-go seeing large thick clouds of cool white smoke. Just before it looks like it is about the erupt into flames again, close the lid.
The smoke coming out should be comfortable to feel on your peel. You desire to smoke the bees, non fire them!
Once the lid is airtight, give a few more confirmatory puffs but for kicks and you're good to go pester your bees.
Keeping it stoked
While you are working with your bees and have the smoker sitting idle, y'all should observe a steady stream of smoke coming from your smoker.
When you pick it up and pump the bellows it should take only a couple of puffs to take information technology pour out smoke like it did when you first lit it up.
If yous notice that is not the case and so your first action should be to give a serial of pocket-sized brusk sharp pumps of the bellows, followed up past some long irksome pumps. Repeating this SOS in morse code type pattern seems to piece of work well to revive a almost dormant smoker.
Nosotros are unaware of the science behind this, but observe that if done in succession and repeated the smoker will eventually come up back to life by doing this!
If your puffs are in vain, you'll need to elevator the lid and have a expect. If y'all observe that there is still fuel in the smoker and it is mildly smouldering, then you can often merely pack the fuel down a trivial, puff away on the bellows with the hat open up and it will come up back into activity.
If however the smouldering does not intensify or has fizzled out to cipher, and so yous may need to unload the smoker and start again entirely.
Same goes for if upon opening the smoker you see that it is entirely out of fuel, simply start over once more.
Depending on your fuel and how well lit the smoker is, it will be fine to leave alone for a few minutes (or even as long equally twenty to 30 minutes for a particularly well-lit smoker) and it should get going once again with just a few puffs.
For most hobbyists, a well-lit smoker will stay lit for an entire apiary session, lasting several hours earlier needing repacking.
Trial and error
You will find that there is a correlation between how densely you pack your smoker and how long it stays lit for.
If you under-pack it then the fuel tin can burn up likewise chop-chop. Conversely, if it is packed too densely then y'all may find you take more trouble keeping the smoker lit.
Funnily enough, a well-packed smoker with more than fuel will actually exist cooler to bear upon than a loosely packed smoker with less fuel.
Recollect, yous're chasing a smoulder with a stream of smoke, not a 'fire in a can'.
There is definitely some trial and error involved in finding what works best for your particular smoker and fuel. You'll get there though, so only keep practising!
Finishing up
This is probably the most neglected part of using a smoker and potentially the nearly consequential.
Once you are done using the smoker you need to extinguish it properly and ensure it is stored properly for transit.
People have lost vehicles and lit bushfires before simply by the thoughtless railroad vehicle of smokers that have accidentally been knocked over and emptied their hot contents into cars or bushland.
What we recommend doing is placing a cork or a piece of timber (fifty-fifty a thick stick) into the spout of the smoker to make a snug fit and effectively suffocate the smoker for a few minutes. This won't always put the smoker out entirely simply it will render information technology fairly prophylactic.
From in that location it can pay to open the smoker and dowse the entire contents of the smoker with water. Just pouring a litre or and so on information technology should do the job.
You but want to ensure that information technology can't spark up once again and also that the can is cooled so that information technology tin't accidentally ignite anything in transit.
Once y'all are habitation and the contents take cooled down entirely, merely dispose of the ash and unburnt fuel in a bin, or even improve, empty the ash onto your garden!
Summary
Being able to quickly and effectively light a smoker is a very handy skill for all beekeepers.
It tin can be frustrating and even embarrassing when you struggle to lite a smoker – especially in public!
Hopefully, the above information helps yous out.
As said, information technology is a bit of trial and error, but by following the above principles and committing some fourth dimension to practice, we have no doubt y'all'll exist puffing away like a vaper in Fremantle.
Safety tips for using a bee smoker
- Practice at home in a safe area before going out into your apiary. It is much better to make a mistake somewhere safe than to practise it somewhere consequential.
- Empty your smoker only afterwards you get home. While you should dowse your smoker in the field, avoid emptying its contents there. You would hate to have driven off just to see smoke from a bushfire in your rear vision mirror. Empty it out at dwelling where you can ensure the smoker's contents won't ignite a fire, even if they were to dry out and reheat themselves.
- Carry your smoker in a steel bucket. When we use our smoker during summer we will always carry our smoker in a steel x-litre bucket one third filled with water. Using the hanging loop on the front of the smoker we hang the smoker over the within of the bucket. By doing this we ensure that nosotros are not putting the smoker down on potentially flammable materials (eg dry grass), we mitigate the risk of hot fabric falling from the smoker onto the ground, and we likewise afford ourselves a few litres of h2o handy to throw on burn down if needed. The water in the bucket is also a practiced thought for washing your hands every bit you go if need be, and the water tin be used to dowse the smoker at the end of your session.
- Carry a fire extinguisher. While a good one may cost a little bit to purchase, they are priceless when you need them.
- Be alert. While working your hives your caput is ofttimes buried in the hive and focused there, so your situational awareness is reduced. You accept bees buzzing effectually, and so your hearing is inhibited also. You lot already have had a face full of smoke, so you're not going to be as sensitive to additional smoke either. All of these factors may contribute to you not noticing a burn has started, thus limiting the chances you have of stopping it before spreads.
- Call back to pay attention to where your smoker is, and to keep an eye on what is happening effectually y'all.
- Check for local laws surrounding burn down bans and harvest bans. There will exist certain times of the year that using a bee smoker is prohibited. The fines can be heavy, as can the consequences of your mistakes.
Source: https://perthhoneycompany.com.au/how-to-light-a-bee-smoker/
0 Response to "How To Light A Beehive Smoker"
Post a Comment