>  Tim wrote
>         If white pine trees grow nearby, pine needles make a good smoker
> fuel.  Collected  from under the trees and stored,  they will be dry at
the
> time of use.
>         The smoker can be stuffed loosely with pine needles and then the
> needles can be smooshed to the side allowing a lighted match to be
dropped
> toward the bottom of the firebox.  This should get a fire going under the
> needles.  The bellows can be pumped to make this fuel into a mass of
glowing
> and burning needles.
>         Then another handful or two of pine needles can be stuffed in on
top
> of the burning material.  If this works, pumping the bellows will heat
the
> just-added needles and produce a lot of smoke.  (If it doesn't, I start
> again.)
>         I light the smoker first; then I assemble the rest of my
equipment to
> open the hives.  If the smoker is still working when I am ready to open a
> hive, then it will probably stay lit.  Common sense says that I should
carry
> matches down to the hives so that I can re-light the smoker, but I
usually
> don't.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
I too use pine needles with great success and use roughly the same
technique as Tim except as follows:
 
I find it works even better, if you have access to corn cobs.   Break the
cobs into inch and a half or so pieces and mix them with the pine needles.
 The cobs serve as a "long burning" fuel source which helps keep the smoker
from extinguishing if the fuel runs low.
 
Also, when your day is complete and your smoker is still burning, take an
appropriate size cob and insert it snuggle in the spout of the smoker so as
to smother the fire.    The next time you light the smoker, remove the cob,
take out the charred fuel (not the ashes, dump them) and use it to start
the new fire.   I find the charred pine straw is easier to light.
Somewhat analogous to charcoal and coal.   You are also dumping cool ashes
into the leaves and or dry grass eliminating the possibility of a ground
fire.
 
To light, use loosely crumpled news paper (or five or six sheets of the
tissue you discarded last Winter from between the sheets of foundation when
preparing new frames for Spring), start them burning, drop in into the
smoker and push it to the bottom with your hive tool (don't pack it), puff
lightly.
 
Push the charred pine straw into the smoker such that the charred fuel is
in the flame from the paper but not in contact with the paper it's self,
continue to puff lightly.    Let this get burning good (while puffing
lightly), push it down (still not packed) and insert loosely rolled
un-burned pine straw (with three or four pieces of cob) keep puffing until
you think the paper has burned completely
 
Now you have a hot, will lit smoker.    You can now insert more fuel and
pack it as you wish and it will most likely stay lit unless you totally
quit puffing the bellows.
 
To prepare pine straw fuel, take a hand full, hold with one hand and roll
it into a rough cylindrical shape about the ID of the smoker and insert it.
  This minimizes the amount of pine straw hanging over the sides that tend
to "spring" the lid causing smoke to come out the wrong place and prevent
the top from fitting tightly.
 
Long winded description, but it does seem to work.
 
Bob Fanning
Huntsville, AL
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