Not sure that smoke source is important to honey production. I have no reason to use a smoker in my honey supers. I pull the boxes off and simply blow out with a bee blower. Use of my smoker while limited is confined to the brood nest.   I don't find the Sisal to be sooty either,  you would need a flame to generate soot. Its an optimal material for use in a smoker as the smoke is "cool" and the material stays lit for a really long time. There is no appearance of any oil in the pure sisal that I am aware of. 

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