Bees for Development Journal 111
PRACTICAL BEEKEEPING
SMOKERS
Monica Barlow and Nicola Bradbear, Bees for Development, 1 Agincourt Street, Monmouth, NP25 3DZ, UK Keywords: alarm pheromone, Langermannia sp, smoker fuel, Tanzania, Zimbabwe A smoker is a container used for introducing smoke to control the bees during beekeeping operations. The fire inside is safely contained, and the smoke can be directed where needed by the beekeeper.
How does smoke quieten bees?
Smoke appears to have several, probably interrelated, effects. The bees’ highly developed communication system depends on detecting scents. When disturbed, bees emit chemicals that alert other bees to the presence of an invader, and they launch a concerted attack. Smoke hides this alarm system. Guarding is reduced at the nest entrance, and the bees are more reluctant to fly off the comb. When bees are disturbed by smoke, their natural instinct may be to fear that fire is destroying their nest. The bees fill their stomachs with honey, and prepare to escape with sufficient supplies to find and build a new nest site. In this situation the colony needs every bee and the resources she is carrying stinging represents a waste of resource, as the bee will die. Some people believe also that in this situation, when the stomach is full it is harder for the bee to flex it, and she will be less likely to sting. Some bees will fly out of the nest in an attempt to avoid the smoke. The use of too much smoke, or smoke that is too hot, will make the bees angry, and may cause them to abscond and never return.
A homemade smoker Ancient Egypt. The simplest smokers may be a piece of dried cow dung on a stick, a roll of sacking, or a bunch of dry grass or sticks wrapped in green leaves. The disadvantage of these is that burning fuel can fall and burn the beekeeper, harm the bees, start a fire or
Early rock paintings in Zimbabwe show smoke being used in honey hunting, for opportunistic raiding of nests, and smoke has been used to manage bees in manmade containers since the days of
PHOTO © ELERI GRIFFITHS
(below) Bridget Mbah, secretary to the Bamendankwe Rural Development Woman Organisation in Cameroon uses green ferns to reduce the heat of smoke
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