Bee smoker
 A bee smoker with protective wire grid | |
| Other names | Smoker |
|---|---|
| Classification | Bee |
| Used with | Hive tool |
| Inventor | Moses Quinby |
| Manufacturer | various |
A bee smoker (usually called simply a smoker or a smokepot) is a device used in beekeeping to calm honey bees. It is designed to generate smoke from the smoldering of various fuels, hence the name. It is commonly designed as a stainless steel cylinder with a lid that narrows to a small gap. The base of the cylinder has another small opening that is adjacent to a bellow nozzle. Pumping of the bellows forces air through the bottom opening. The cylinder may also have a wire frame around to protect hands from burning. Some smokers have a hook on the side allowing the user to hang the device on the side of a beehive for easy access during an inspection or attach it to an ALICE belt when not in use.
History
Long before the invention of the bee smoker, humans had discovered that smoke calmed bees. It is not clear when this practice started but it has been used in various parts of the world where honey is collected in the wild. For example, the indigenous Native Americans burned the common puffball fungus (Lycoperdon spp) to anesthetize the honeybees which inspired application of the smoke as a general anesthetic in 1853.[1] Along the same lines, a campfire can be started in near proximity to the nest, then a smouldering stick or torch can be brought to the nest to diffuse smoke in the honeybees general vicinity. This technique is still used today in Nepal to collect wild psychotropic honey from cliff colonies.[2]
Action and usage
The fact that smoke calms bees has been known since ancient times; however, the scientific explanation was unknown until the 20th century and is still not fully understood. Smoke masks alarm
Smoke is of limited use with a swarm, partly because swarms have no honey stores to feed on. It is usually not needed, either, since swarms tend to be less defensive as they have no home to defend, and a fresh swarm will have fed well at the hive it left behind.
Design and operation of a traditional smoker
Many types of fuel can be used in a smoker.[11] These fuels include Hessian fabric (burlap), pine needles, corrugated cardboard, paper egg cartons, and rotten wood or herbs.[12] Some beekeeping supply sources also sell commercial fuels like pulped paper and compressed cotton. Experiments have shown that smoke from pellets of the dried female hop flower (Humulus lupulus), containing the sedative lupulin, is particularly effective.[13]
The fuel in the smoker's burner smolders slowly due to the restriction of oxygen in the burning chamber, and each squeeze of the bellows feeds the smoldering fuel with fresh air to produce smoke.
There are many modifications to the basic original design. Since the burner can get very hot, a safety guard against burns is often placed into the second, outer can (making the smoker double wall). Alternatively, the burner can be surrounded with a protective wire cage.
References
- S2CID 233205099.
- ^ Synnott, Mark (July 2017). "The Last Death-Defying Honey Hunter of Nepal". National Geographic. Archived from the original on June 29, 2017. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
- ^ Edwards, David (November 1, 2014). "Moses Quinby: America's Father Of Practical Beekeeping". Bee Culture.
- ^ Mangum, Wyatt A. (February 1, 2016). "Thermal Beekeeping: Look Inside a Burning Bee Smoker". American Bee Journal.
- ^ Carr, William Broughton (1911). . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 03 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 625–638, see page 636.
- S2CID 45575468.
- S2CID 14743640.
- .
- .
- ProQuest 302256408.
- ISBN 978-0801485039.
- ^ Everett, Sara (June 13, 2016). "How to Make Your Own Natural Bee Smoker Fuel". Modern Farmer.
- PMID 30060211.
