Robert Akin <[log in to unmask]> said:

> I seem to either have difficulty keeping my smoker going, or it burns out
> before I am finished working my bees.  I get tired of baby sitting the
> smoker to keep it going while I am working my bees.  I am using dry burlap,
> and have used other things, but it seems to go out when I have a hive
> opened. It is frustrating to have to stop and relight the smoker!

Mr. George Imirie covered all the major points (of course), but I have
one small suggestion to add.

SCRAP YOUR SMOKER!!!!

Yep, you heard me... throw it away.

But you need a smoker, don't you?
Yes, but you need a BIG one.
The biggest size the catalogs have.

My father (who is enjoying his 3rd summer of beekeeping and 4th year
of retirement) had the same problem you had.  He was trying burlap, pine
needles, dry hay, but if he set the smoker down, he would have to "puff"
for often a full minute to get it to put out more than a feeble transparent
amount of smoke.

Fast-forward to my first encounter with the bigger-sized smoker.

        "Why so big?"  I asked the owner of the
             sizeable beastie.

        "They stay lit better"  was the answer.
        He proved his point by laying down a smoke
            screen that could have hidden the advance of
        an entire armored division.

        "What fuel do you use - plutonium?"  I asked.
        "Nope, same thing you use - pine needles."  He said.

I thought about that, and bought my father one of the big ones for
his birthday.  It also had a nice wire "bail" around the chamber to
keep the hot metal from touching other things, and a handy little
hook to hang it on the edge of a super, ever close at hand.

Big ones work better.  Or perhaps they just work better in the hands
of relative novices.  They stay lit longer.  Much longer.  They also put
out MUCH more smoke.  I could never produce the think white clouds
with my little smoker that I can with my big one.  My little smoker
has been demoted to be a bit holder for my brace-and-bit drill.

Don't ask me why smaller smokers are even offered by the beekeeping
supply houses.  I'd classify them in the same category as entrance
feeders included in beginner kits and masonite inner covers -
unexplainable lapses of judgement on the part of otherwise
knowledgeable and well-meaning suppliers of appropriate products.

You might say I paid too much for a "big" smoker, but when it comes
to tools, one can reflect on one's fiscal irresponsibility at one's leisure,
by which time the minor additional amount spent on the better tool has
proven its value as a good investment.


        jim

        Farmageddon