Miller wrote: "or else a lighted piece of rotten wood (indeed this last 
was quite an improvement over the first),"...

I have seen this done; indeed it appears in the picture I referred to 
in an earlier post: Figure 12 in Getting the Best from Your Bees.

Pettigrew (writing in the 1870s) favoured a roll of corduroy cloth.

I have, on occasion, used a cadged cigarette. That was in Ireland where 
friends had bees in a tree.  With the help of the son of the house, 
then aged about 10, I built a National hive from floorboards, equipped 
it with frames I had brought with me (unmade) and starter strips.  I 
made a hive tool from a length of copper pipe, flattened and folded at 
one end.  The bees were transferred to the hive and moved to the far 
side of the bog a couple of miles away.  I had a veil that slipped over 
my hat and it was loose enough for me to take a drag on the ciggy 
through it and puff where required.  They did ok there for a while and 
we got some honey, but eventually they were badgered.

Chris

  

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