# Smoker Fuel



## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

Stand up wind?
Or try some of that liquid smoke?


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

What is liquid smoke?


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

Mix it with water and spray it on bees. More here .... http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/Liquid-Bee-Smoke/productinfo/470/


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

I would use what I use in a smoky situation  Not me in the image but couldn't resist.


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

Ian said:


> How do I get away from that **** smoke? I'm in it all day everyday.


Find Another profession.


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## jcolon (Sep 12, 2014)

Why so much smoke. I know smokers are the beekeepers tool of choice but I find myself needing a third arm to operate them. I start using it and in the middle of the inspections I forget I have a smoker. I am too busy inspecting bees.


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## JohnBruceLeonard (Jul 7, 2015)

Ian, I don't know if your trouble is the _quality _of the smoke, or the smoke itself. If the first, you might experiment with dry leaves. I haven't tried most of what you have, but my mentor got me started using cardboard, and from the first I didn't like it - the smell was unpleasantly acrid and it burned my eyes continually. (Besides which, unless my greenhorn's mind was simply fabricating things, it sometimes seemed to me it was needlessly riling the bees.) I began using the dried leaves of olive trees as I have a goodly number of them on my land. The smell is sweet and it doesn't trouble my breathing or eyesight in the least. I've also tried eucalyptus leaves to similar results. 

I doubt you'll find many olive or eucalyptus trees in Canada, of course. The point being that you surely have some native equivalent. You could grab a handful of such stuff as you come across, and give it a try.

John


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## Makin' Honey (Sep 13, 2010)

Ian, Liquid smoke is just that, smoke captured and in a liquid, used for flavoring, grilling meat or in BBQ sauce. A friend of mine operating 6,000 hives uses only liquid smoke in a spray bottle to work his bees. What you find in his smoker bucket is liquid smoke, water and a spray bottle. You can find it on the spice aisle in your grocery store.


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## LSPender (Nov 16, 2004)

We use burlap bags, cut up into usable pieces. Get from coffee roaster. Suggestion, use light smoke


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## Duncan151 (Aug 3, 2013)

Makin' Honey said:


> Ian, Liquid smoke is just that, smoke captured and in a liquid, used for flavoring, grilling meat or in BBQ sauce. A friend of mine operating 6,000 hives uses only liquid smoke in a spray bottle to work his bees. What you find in his smoker bucket is liquid smoke, water and a spray bottle. You can find it on the spice aisle in your grocery store.
> View attachment 20707


Around here, northeast WI, we use liquid smoke as an attractant scent over bear baits. I would not take the chance of encouraging a bear to visit my hives, just due to a little smoke. It may work in other areas just fine though.


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## Sadler91 (Nov 6, 2011)

I have used pine straw my whole life and recently switched to a combination of wood pellets and pine straw. Pine straw never bothered me but the wood pellets choke me up. Maybe you get conditioned to a certain type of smoke?


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## high rate of speed (Jan 4, 2008)

Burlap is cheap and works great.


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## Flewster (Nov 3, 2003)

I hear ya. I use wood pellets with a piece of burlap on top. Lasts a long time and produces a great cool smoke for me. I hear what ya mean though about being in smoke all day. I come home and my wife tells me to strip at the door I stink like a camp fire. And it always seems that no matter which way the wind is blowing it just blows back and circles me no matter what.


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## mgolden (Oct 26, 2011)

I know of one commercial who uses burlap as the "inner cover". When it gets loaded with wax and propolis, it is saved and used in the smoker. Suspect it burns cleaner but perhaps a little ??quicker

.


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

For years we used the old burlap bags that had been used in the wax press. Now Christian rakes to dirt below the PINE trees in early fall, waits for the needles to fall, then rakes them up and dries them on the asphalt driveway. They get stored in fiber barrels, but sometimes a batch gets rejected due to a sneezing. It must mold with time.

Crazy Roland


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## Brian Suchan (Apr 6, 2005)

On a side note where is a good place 2 get burlap?? Years ago my old man bought a whole bunch outta an abj that had them for sale. Those peppercorn burlap sacks worked great gettin down to the tail end, will need more soon


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Tenbears said:


> Find Another profession.


You would not understand my point having this not be your perfession


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

liquid smoke... Interesting idea


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Roland that is my thoughts, any mold and it all gets in hailed
Cardboard is like sniffing glue, burlap like oil , and nature can bring its nasties


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## high rate of speed (Jan 4, 2008)

Just use bills excuse.that seemed to work.


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

If you don't want to go to the fabric store and buy upholstery burlap or the crafty stuff, Do you have a coffee roaster close to you? Coffee beans come in hopefully untreated bags. I got some today in fact and one looks to be made from sisal twine. Wonder how it will burn, probably too fast.


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## high rate of speed (Jan 4, 2008)

Gotta love stocks in Starbucks.


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## Knobs (Sep 20, 2014)

The best smoker fuel I have ever used was plain old pine shavings from tractor supply (or any store that sells shavings for animal bedding). The cost next to nothing, (like 5 dollars for a multi year supply) and work great. Load your smoker up on one side. Get it burning good and then pack it full. Stays smoking for a really long time, cheap and easy.


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## Barhopper (Mar 5, 2015)

We use pine straw. I've found that the freshly fallen stuff works the best. I actually look around for people raking their yards then get some from the piles by the road. I bought a bale from a garden store once. It was old and brittle. The smoke was almost noxious.


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## scorpionmain (Apr 17, 2012)

I use Pet Bedding.
It's wood shavings packed and sold at stores like Tractor Supply and Wal-Mart.
Cheap and easy to use.


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

I like to use Burlap from a coffee roaster, so easy and clean to deal with. The only pain is cutting it up into strips, I suppose one of those paper slicers would work faster


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## TWall (May 19, 2010)

I too find smoker from wood pellets harder to tolerate. I like the way they burn for a long time. 

I have been collecting pine needles from a neighbors yard.

Tom


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

Ben Little said:


> The only pain is cutting it up into strips, I suppose one of those paper slicers would work faster


Ben, a "metal" chop saw blade works slick, can can either put it on a chop or table saw.


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

Ben Little said:


> The only pain is cutting it up into strips, I suppose one of those paper slicers would work faster


Ben, a "metal" chop saw blade works slick, can can either put it on a chop or table saw.


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

Ben Little said:


> The only pain is cutting it up into strips, I suppose one of those paper slicers would work faster


Metal chop saw blade works great.


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## Tim KS (May 9, 2014)

I cut my old jeans up into strips about 8" X 15" and roll this up in a piece of cardboard (tape the rolls to keep them from unwrapping). Lite the rolled end, stuff the lit end down in the smoker and you'll have smoke for 10 - 20 hives. It's easy to take extras rolls along and add to the smoker when it gets low on fuel. Get rid of old boxes & worn out jeans too.


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## Ishi (Sep 27, 2005)

To cut burlap take a plywood saw blade on the table saw with to running carefully use a file to remove the teeth from each side of the blade a sharp edge them use a stone to sharpen some more. Cut the strips at least 8 inches wide so that you can keep your fingers away from the blade.


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

Be very wary of any burlap for decorating purposes. My sister gifted me quite a few rolls that made us rather sick in a short time. Our guess was it had some sort of flame retardant on it.

Crazy Roland


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## sharpdog (Jun 6, 2012)

Ben Little said:


> I like to use Burlap from a coffee roaster, so easy and clean to deal with. The only pain is cutting it up into strips, I suppose one of those paper slicers would work faster


Roll the sack up to the diameter you desire and use an axe or machette on a chopping block to give you perfect coils for you smoker. You can also use masking tape before hand to keep them coiled.


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

Folks, metal chop saw blade & you will never look back.


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## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

Ian,

Don't get ready to go orgasmic over Liquid smoke. 

Because of our dry seasons and my unwillingness to burn up a nearby town or two I have used liquid smoke on many occasions.

Does it work? Partially. Not even close to the real stuff though. 

If you think you will get anything close to the results of real smoke you will be sorely disappointed. 

Suit up well and get the help to do the same. 

BTW: Congrats on being able to bury those other nasty smokes!!!!!!!


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## davidsbees (Feb 22, 2010)

All summer it's been liquid smoke 25% smoke and 75% water. I think it works well enough The mixture is very corrosive and will wreck any spray bottle so just buy a 10 pack of cheap ones. When the fire danger has past I like burning hop sacking (burlap they bag beer hops in) smells nice. Like Keith I use a fiber wheel on a chop saw to cut the sacking.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

The hardest was that end of day smoke


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## Tim KS (May 9, 2014)

If you want burlap, I've bought brand new, never used large bags at places like Lowes Garden Centers, Menards or Home Depot for something like $0.99 per bag.


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## Chip Euliss (Sep 2, 2010)

I share your pain Ian but, other than wearing a respirator, smoke is an occupational hazard of beekeeping. I quit smoking 30 years ago and I think I'm more sensitive to smoke because of it. They say there's nobody more self righteous than a reformed smoker and that's probably true. Smoke makes me sick to my stomach and it may be a carry-over from smoking so many years ago. I use cedar chips (animal bedding) and I use a torch to light my smoker. I light it up quick, puff the hive(s), set it on a downwind pallet, do my work and put it out quick with grass. Never tried liquid smoke so may have to check it out.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Most of the year a nice light smoke is used to calm the bees, the nice light smoke is calming for the yard and not much of a bother. This last round I'm working at we are using a heavier stronger smoke used to move bees as three or four boxes are brought down to singles and excluders are removed. A little bit of this moves bees very nicely but as you would imagine, leaves the yard in a haze. Hard in the lungs! Spent the last few days on the combine, that fine fine oil seed dust hangs heavy on the lungs. 
Oh the hazards...


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

Ian - could you use a blower?

Crazy Roland


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## high rate of speed (Jan 4, 2008)

Table saw.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Roland said:


> Ian - could you use a blower?
> 
> Crazy Roland


I use escapes right til the end. My blower robbing days are gone  thank god


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## Dave S (Jan 19, 2013)

I use sumac, not the poison type, the one with the red berries. I collect from mid August until frost and let it dry, I have used it the same day it was cut That's all I've used for the last 30 years after I went out with another beek to work his hives. Compared to some other materials it smells pretty nice.
Dave


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## dgl1948 (Oct 5, 2005)

Knobs said:


> The best smoker fuel I have ever used was plain old pine shavings from tractor supply (or any store that sells shavings for animal bedding). The cost next to nothing, (like 5 dollars for a multi year supply) and work great. Load your smoker up on one side. Get it burning good and then pack it full. Stays smoking for a really long time, cheap and easy.


This is what we use only we get the cedar shavings. If you have to breath a bit of smoke in you cannot beat the smell of cedar.


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