Jerry Bromenshenk wrote: <snip>
>But here's the interesting part, we smoked the bees early in the afternoon
>and the effect lasted through the evening - they never returned to full
>activity as compared to flight for the previous or following days.  Not
>surprisingly, the more smoke, the more obvious the effect.  <snip>
 
This is a very interesting subject, IMHO, since most of us use smoke to some
extent at certain times.  I would be quite interested in some more details,
perhaps some numbers or a graph.  Do you by any chance have a file on this
experiment in your computer Jerry that you would be willing to share with
the list? (I realize that this might not be possible if it is a research
paper-in-the-making).  :)
 
I have noticed that, as you said, just having the smoker going in the apiary
seems to affect the hives without ever actually puffing them.  One time
there was a forest fire in Quebec that was about fifty miles from my hives
in Prince Edward Island.  It was only noticeable here (to humans) as an
eerily hazy day.  The bees all refused to fly that day.  They just hung
around the landing boards in perfect weather with a honey flow on.
 
I am curious as to the effects of heavy smoking.  I have had beekeepers from
Togo and Surinam stay with me on foreign exchange programs.  Both work with
African or Africanized bees, and both use a LOT of smoke.
 
Regards Stan