I normally use pine needles, but long ago I tried newspapers that are slurried and dried into slabs then broken into chunks. It took a long time for them to dry, so put them in a corner and eventually they were forgotten. Found them a few weeks ago and they make excellent long term or short term cool smoke. Easy to put out when done and easy to start- if they are completely dried out. They take a while to make which mitigates against their use. Take a bunch of newspapers, dump into a bucket, trash can or garbage can depending on how much you want to make. Mix (the hard part) into a slurry so all the paper is saturated. Pour out into or onto something that will strain them and allow drainage. Old supers make a nice frame. I let them dry into 2-3" slabs so they will fit the smoker, and, after they dry, cut to fit. Let them dry a very long time before use, so make them in the fall for use the next year. I start them with a butane lighter and put them out by wiping the lit end on green or wet grass. For a hobby beekeeper, it makes a great fuel because it is easy to start and stop and reusable many times, which makes for ease of use with a few colonies. Bill Truesdell Bath, Maine *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm