Hi all
Smoker fuel is one of those perennial topics beekeepers love to hold forth on. When I worked at the Dyce Lab, our standard fuel was: start with white pine needles. Once well lit, add hardwood pellets (the kind they use in pellet stoves). I built a special fireproof hutch to store the lit smokers. Once lit, stays lit for days.

Working as a bee inspector, I switched to coffee sacks (burlap). Since I kept my smoker in my car, I didn't want it to stay lit for days. Actually, I would put it in a galvanized pail with a tight lid. It would stay lit for hours, perfect for bee inspection, where the yards were a half hour to an hour apart. Went out at night, but super easy to relight charred burlap.

I knew an old beekeeper who burned burlap and added used crankcase oil to make it smoke long and heavy. Really stupid idea, of course, but I modified it. Once the smoker is lit, I add a little burr comb. This has the same effect, makes the fuel last much longer. The smoke is thick and cool; something about burning beeswax really mellows them out, too.

p.s. if you add to much you'll clog the grate and have a real mess to clean out

PLB

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