Looking for the best smoke making material

[abates99]

I have been using pellets from my pellet stove.  The first time I used pellets I piled them in after getting the fire going which made a nasty black liquid mess that got on everything, now I put a handfull of pellets in the bottom, a handfull of firestarter shavings and light the shavings.  Once the shavings are burning hot with the bellows pumping I slowly add another handfull of pellets and pump air untill I see the pellets burning.  This has seemed to work well with a good puff of smoke that does the trick, the smoker will burn for quite a while and with only a couple handfulls of pellets there is no tar.  If you notice the brand of pellets in the catalog and look them up they are the same company that makes the woodenware, also the pellets are marketed for pellet stoves.  I get my pellets for less than four dollars a bag.

[Sean Kelly]

also wonder if you just stuffed the thing with newspaper from time to time and burned a hot fire if that wouldn't crack some of it loose?

Tried this the other day.  Sounded like it wouldnt hurt.  Well it did.     I think I ruined my smoker.  Still works for now though.  Got that sucker blazing hot.  The nice stainless shine is now gun-blued steel in the middle, the tar drips that came from around the dome on the outside is now permamently baked on, and the plastic bellows started to melt (I'm using the cheapo from Mann Lake).

Now I do have an excuse to buy a new smoker.  Is it the glue in the pellet stove pellets that creates all that darn cresote tar?  Just having the smoker in the house (extinguished of course) makes everything smell like a campfire.  I'm hoping the cedar shavings or burlap will leave less tar.  Nasty stuff.

Sean Kelly

[Cindi]

Sean, what an ucky bummer!!!!  Go for burlap, I have used my smoker for over 2 years and haven't had to clean any crap out of it yet.  It just plain and simply does not have build up junk in it. 

I have been using the dryed staghorn sumac flowers for smoke, along with burlap.  I surely hope that the sumac makes creosote.  Time will be the teller of that tale though.  I find these two combined burn for a long, long time.  I had it going for over an hour the other day when I was outside looking into all the 9 (Yeah) colonies that I have.  I didn't use very much smoke with them at all, but I just kept it smoldering around, just in case.  I now take a little spray bottle of sugar syrup, very diluted, and give the bees a little tiny bit of this misted on them.  They seem to really like it (of course), not enough that it would even make them wet, but it seemed to keep them busy enough.  No stings, just quiet little girls doing their own thing, and never minding this giant that opened up their little home.  I use baby powder on my hands always too, they seem to also not mind this, maybe they like it, I don't know.  A fellow from the bee club that came to my house my first year of beekeeping to help me catch a swarm told me to use baby powder cause the bees like it.  Always worked for me.  I have never once had a sting to my hand while working the colonies, and I never, ever wear gloves.

When I was inserting the sticky boards the other day for the varroa mite I put on gloves because I knew my hands were going to be interferring a little with the flight of the bees coming and going.  But it was about 5 seconds after I began that I removed the gloves.  What a nuisance.  Put on the baby powder and away I went. 

Have a wonderful day, I think that you are gonna have to buy a new smoker, that is too bad.  Beautiful life, great health.  Cindi