I agree with madasafish, smoke's being hyped these days a lot, but in fact using it for colonies is not the best idea. I prefer to use water, too. Just my two cents though...
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Not really appropriate for a beekeeping forum - Nellie.
Last edited by Neils; 06-04-2012 at 12:00 PM.
Based on observation rather than 'natural' beekeeping dogma, both smoke and water can be effective and sometimes neither is needed.
I cannot see on what basis water is more natural than smoke.
If you consider a natural situation, it never rains inside a hollow tree but it is quite possible that smoke could drift into the nest during a forest fire.
Reacting quickly to the presence of smoke is likely to be an evolutionary strategy to enable a colony to tank up and abscond when their nest is under threat from fire.
Using smoke is taking advantage of a behaviour which has evolved in the honeybee over millions of years.
Last edited by Jon; 06-04-2012 at 01:29 PM.
No, but when a dinosaur used to cock its back leg...........................Originally Posted by Jon
I base my choice not on "natural beekeeping" methods - a contradiction in terms in my view - but based on convenience and effectiveness coupled with need.
Bees tend to dislike cold rain... dinosaur pee was probably lukewarm :-)
I was actually paraphrasing one of my favourite sayings.
When people start complaining about the rain I often point out that it never rains in a bar.
actually it is not unknown ..... been paddling before now amongst the beer barrels
It’s a good job that evolution goes back millions of years because my bees have never seen a forest let alone one on fire; maybe a heath fire might jog their memories.
Seriously though I have often wondered about the effect of smoke on unsealed honey and the risk of it being tainted. I use cardboard and clean hessian in my smoker but maybe there’s someone out there burning pretty toxic stuff.
Are you sure your cardboard isn't toxic? I use hay these days and hope it's not full of pesticides.
Rosie
Oops, Careful. You mentioned that 'P' word again.
I collect bags of leaves and store them in a shed until they are well dried.
You get a great smell of forest fire from the smoker.
I use a bit of paper and cardboard to start it off.
I use hay from our fields, so no *p*, though perhaps a little sheep and goat pee
And I also add a little propolis to purify it all, though I think that's where someone will step in and direct me to the *myths* thread.
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