I normally use hessian  sacking  as  a  smoker  fuel.   When  I  started
beekeeping I was advised that when I finished for the day I should stuff
the smoker orifices with grass to stifle the airflow and leave  the  the
smoker  on  its  side  until extinguished.  This has the effect that the
part-burnt hessian (or other fuel for that matter)  remains  as  a  fine
carbon  rather  than  burning  away to ash.  This then lights easily the
next time I use it.  Relighting is usually a very undramatic affair with
little  flame, I just get a bit smouldering and puff away 'til I get the
smoke volume I want.
 
The variety of materials used for smoker fuel is pretty  wide.   Various
mixes  of  woodland  waste seem popular: pine needles; pine cones; bark,
some  mushrooms  when  dried;  grass;  leaves  (including  tobacco   and
marijuana);  corrugated cardboard.  I guess if its around, burns, smokes
and doesn't kill the bees people use it.
 
--
Gordon Scott    [log in to unmask]         100332,3310 on CompuServe
Newsletter      [log in to unmask]      ditto
                Beekeeper, Kendo Sandan, sometime sailor.
                Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG22 5HP, UK
 
Pain lasts but a moment, it is the fear of pain that deadens the heart.