Bob Harrison wrote:


For the COMMERCIAL beekeeper I recommend a "smoker box" on the rear of the
truck bed .

When I started keeping bees, i helped my mentor harvest honey in the
mountains of NC.  I followed him in my truck and after harvesting about 25
supers which were bagged in black garbage bags.  we headed home with me
following him with the harvest in his truck.  He left his lit smoker in the
back of his truck and after about 3 miles the smoker ignited the plastic
bags.  Fortunately i had a fire extinguisher and after my mentor pulled off
the road with flames getting stronger, i was able to put out the fire..He
lost almost half of his crop.  He never did get a smoker box, but a rule was
made by him and myself that smokers were extinguished before moving the
truck..

jimmy odom
charlotte nc



On Fri, Jun 4, 2010 at 8:06 PM, Bob Harrison <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

>  Once this is going pretty well, I like to take a few pieces of burr comb
>>> (bees wax) and drop it down in. This has almost the same effect as the
>>> used
>>> oil: the smoke is cool and dense, and the smoker stays lit forever.
>>>
>>
> For the COMMERCIAL beekeeper I recommend a "smoker box" on the rear of the
> truck bed .
>
> I can't believe the number of commercial beekeepers which never seem to
> find the time to build a smoker box or weld hooks (for ropes) on their
> trucks. Both are step one when setting up a bee truck!
>
> A former worker went to Kona Queen to work for a season and came back with
> a smoker method I adopted and will never quit using. I fill the smoker to
> the desired amount of wood pellets ( wood stove pellets sold in 50 pound
> bags). A full large smoker will be lit and smoking the next day if used
> little.
>
> I light with a torch ( which takes only a couple minutes).
>
> Always a lit smoker! I have been moving hives all week and not having to
> mess with keeping a smoker lit is a big help. ALL other fuels I have used
> will not burn all day  and most tend to go out if the smoker sits for
> awhile. Not so with wood pellets..
>
> The smoker insides and inside of lid needs cleaned every so often. I also
> add a 8 mesh screen to prevent pellets from falling out the spout is
> dropped.
>
> Kona queen sets up around 20 smokers on a rack and a propane system lights
> all before the start of a shift.
>
> bob
>            ***********************************************
> The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
> LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
> http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
>
> Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
> http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm
>

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm