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.

A homemade smoker

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.

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

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 spoil the honey. Another very simple smoker can be made using a tin punched with holes, wrapped with a stiff wire handle, and filled with burning cow dung. With all these simple smokers, it is difficult to direct the smoke where it is needed.

Bridget Mbah, secretary to the Bamendankwe Rural Development Woman Organisation in Cameroon uses green ferns to reduce the heat of smoke

PHOTO © ELERI GRIFFITHS

Bridget Mbah and Josephine Musongong work together to harvest honey comb from a top-bar hive in Cameroon

PHOTO © ELERI GRIFFITHS

It is more efficient to make a smoker which will direct the smoke to specific areas of the hive. Basic but effective smokers can be made from old tins, fitting a smaller tin (punched with holes on the bottom) inside a larger one, leaving an air space below. The simplest blow-type will have a blow hole on one side, into which the beekeeper blows, and a smoke hole on the other, through which the smoke escapes. Sprung bellows can be added to the blow hole, making the smoker easier to operate with one hand. A nozzle can also be added to better direct the smoke. In both types, air is pushed through the lower hole into the firebox, and the fuel is prevented from blocking the blow hole by a perforated shelf. The lid is opened to insert fuel. When the lid is closed, enough air enters the firebox to keep the fuel burning slowly: when the bellows are operated, the additional air produces a dense stream of smoke.

The best smoker will be safe to handle, easy to operate, and will have a casing around the firebox to prevent burns.

Fuel

Material used for smoker fuel must fulfil certain conditions:

• Easy to ignite

• Open textured so that air is interspersed with fuel

• Continues to burn slowly when the smoker is left to stand upright

• Quickly produces a dense stream of smoke when bellows are operated

• Is not toxic to bees or beekeeper

• Has no smell objectionable to bees or beekeeper

• Burns with a cool, even smoke.

Beekeepers have personal preferences, depending on what is locally available, but the following are all used as fuel:

• Soft rotten wood or wood shavings

• Dry bark

• Coconut husks

• Rice husks

• Dry pine needles

• Maize cobs

• Tight packed hay

• Dried cut lucerne

• Dry fibres from papaya trunk

• Giant puffball slices (dried)

• Tobacco (in northern European pipe smokers)

• Dried dung of local ruminants

• Dried camel dung

• Old sacking burlap from jute or natural fibres (NOT plastic)

• Cotton or linen rags

• Thick sisal rope

• Corrugated cardboard (with no noxious fumes).

It is very important to avoid using any material treated with insecticide (most likely on sacking or glued cardboard). Some materials may have a high tar content and can block the nozzle of the smoker. In Tanzania, tests showed that the best materials were dried cow dung, or dry fibres from papaya trunks: these were locally available, easy to ignite, did not spark, and did not smell bad (Koisianga, 1996).

If using a material which burns too hot, you can place a handful of green grass on top of the burning fuel. This produces extra smoke, and will cool the smoke before it reaches the bees. It should just scare them - be very careful never to burn the bees!

In many countries certain plants and herbs are reputed to pacify bees. Smoke from the giant puffball fungus Langermannia gigantea has been used for centuries in Europe, and from the African puffball Langermannia wahlbergia in Tanzania. Experiments have demonstrated that the smoke has a narcotic effect, which wears off after about 20 minutes, and that too much is harmful to bees.

Method of use

Light a small piece of dry fuel and place it in the smoker; work the bellows until it is burning well, then add more dry fuel above it. Close the lid and work the bellows until a steady stream of cool smoke emerges from the nozzle. Note the wind speed and direction, so you can direct the smoke efficiently.

The smoker should be lit, and should be burning well and steadily before any attempt is made to open the hive. It must produce cool smoke, without flame or fragments of burnt fuel. Blow two or three puffs of smoke gently across the hive entrance. Allow a few moments for the smoke to permeate the colony. If using a frame hive, gently remove the top cover from the hive and gently puff a little more smoke across the frames. If the cover is a rigid board, smoke can be puffed under it. The number of bees engorging honey is likely to be greatest a couple of minutes after smoke is applied, and will drop by half, ten minutes later. Work carefully, and apply more smoke when required. When not being used, stand the smoker somewhere safe where it will not burn people or bees, and where it will not set light to vegetation. If inspecting many hives, it may be necessary to refuel the smoker several times, so always have sufficient dry fuel ready. A hook screwed to the back of the smoker can be useful for safe and convenient hanging of the smoker on nearby hives or stands, during beekeeping operations.

Smoke can be used to encourage the bees to move in a particular direction, toward or away from an area. Do not use too much, or the bees will run around confused. They need to be able to find a smoke free area to move towards. Smoking the person handling the bees can be helpful in avoiding stings. If you do get stung, it is important to remove the sting and immediately smoke the area of the sting. The sting releases an alarm pheromone (isopentyl acetate) which alerts other bees to danger, and they will come and attack that place. Smoking the sting area hides the smell of the alarm pheromone and prevents other bees from being alerted.

Once finished, stand the smoker clear of any combustible material, and stop up the nozzle with a plug of material which will not burn, such as damp grass, until the embers are completely extinguished. Store it in dry conditions, and empty of fuel.

To smoke or not to smoke?

Many beekeepers now prefer to avoid the use of smoke because of the stress it places on the colony. Smoke does not ‘calm’ bees, but frightens them into preparing to flee the nest. It can take many hours or days for the bees to repair damage to the structure and scent of the nest following such intrusion. A fine spray of very dilute sugar water can be used to distract the bees, but this cannot be used in cold weather, and does not have the same effect as smoke. Many beekeepers find that they can work without the use of smoke, and say their bees are calmer as a result.

In conclusion, smoke has been used for thousands of years to enable humans to manage bee colonies, and to raid their nests for their valuable honey. The smoker is a useful – and for most of us, essential – part of our beekeeping equipment. A good smoker will last a lifetime, and with the right fuel will help you to manage your bees without upsetting them.

A honey hunter using a smoker made from bundle of leaves and grasses in Nilgiris, India

PHOTO © KEYSTONE FOUNDATION

References

BECHTEL, P.; GAU, K. (1989) Practical Beekeeping: Make your own smoker. Bees for Development Journal 15 pp 6-7.

BECHTEL, P.; GAU, K. (1988) Introduction to Beekeeping. Ministry of Agriculture, Mbabane, Swaziland pp 40-48.

CONRAD, R. (2013) Natural beekeeping: organic approaches to modern apiculture. Chelsea Green Publishing, White River Junction, USA.

CRANE, E. (1990) Bees and beekeeping: science, practice and world resources. Cornell University Press, New York, USA pp 154-158.

KOISIANGA, R.S.O. (1996) A bee smoker appropriate for African conditions. Bees for Development Journal 41 pp 3-5.

Editor’s note

Smoke free honey harvest in Ethiopia

Janet Lowore of Bees for Development has been working with beekeepers in the south-west of Ethiopia where forest beekeepers have two approaches to harvesting honey. One method involves leaving the hive in situ in the tree and the beekeeper climbs the tree, removes the honey door and using a little smoke, encourages the bees to move away from the honeycombs towards the brood end of the nest. The beekeeper takes out between three and seven honeycombs, places them in a container which is then lowered out of the tree. This method sends the bees into defence mode and stings can happen.

The other method is to lower the hive out of the tree completely and open the hive to expose the entire nest. This operation sends the bees into flight mode and they do not sting. The beekeepers use no smoke at all and are never stung. The absconding colony moves off to rebuild its colony elsewhere.