I have been invited to attend an "event" in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood
of Manhattan next month to introduce yet another claimed revolutionary
development in beekeeping - a smoker than seems to electrically mimic the
infamous Burgess Fogger (used in fogging FGMO some years back).

 

But this does not attempt to address varroa, at least not yet, this is a
replacement for a smoker, where you buy the smoker, replacement heating
coils, and special essential oils "Particularly suitable for non-aggressive
colonies and routine visits." 

 

This phrasing tends to make me think that they are not willing to say that
one can use this on an ornery colony, or on a bad day when the weather, the
phase of the moon, mercury going retrograde or something else puts the bees
in a more defensive mood than usual, but by definition, all colonies are
purely defensive, and "non-aggressive", even the hottest Africanized colony.

 

I'll likely go anyway, just to say hi to the other beekeepers who show up,
and trade lies about yields per hive.

 

https://apisolis.us

 

I seriously doubt that this device can lay down the volume of smoke that
would hide the advance of a tank platoon, so I'll pass.  I only flip up my
veil when I have to, as I prefer a few stings to heat exhaustion, and I keep
bees in a tee shirt, so a good smoker is important to me.

 

Back in in the early 2000s, as a part of my "How Stuff Really Works" series,
I published a brief monograph on the bee smoker in Bee Culture magazine,
which I attach here.


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