I have been using rolled up cardboard to smoke my bees. The other day when I mentioned this to someone they were surprised that I would do that due to the glue used in the manufacturing of it. I had never thought about it.
Should I be looking for another smoke source?
I just this evening bucketed a swarm from a friends tree. This is my third attempt so far. I am now 1 for 1 and will maybe pull a frame from my large hive to help incent them to stay in the box I will put them in.
Wee Haaawww!
Old Blue
I've been using pine needles
http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,28051.0.html (http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,28051.0.html)
Use to have a bail of pine needles around all the time. Not any more. Old cotton t-shirts. Cool smoke and they smolder alot longer than pine needles.
yes i use old t shirts also the plain white ones
Cardboard should be fine. I can't imagine the little bit of glue is anyworse than the fungus growing in the wood chips that I'll scrape off the ground sometimes.
That being said, I hate the smell of the smoke of cardboard, so use pine needles or sycamore bark if I have it around.
I like the smoke from pine needles, but I don't like the resin it leaves in my smoker. I use it at one of my yards cuz it's available. Most of my hives are kept at a saw mill where there are big piles if harwood sawdust. That's wonderful stuff!
Awhile back, I went to the local beekeeping supply outlet to pick up some supplies. I was out of smoker fuel and thought I'd buy some since I was there. They said they didn't have any left and promptly gave info on what to use. Pine needles weren't in that conversation. I was on my way to a yard I have so I stopped and picked up or stuffed a large bag. It does seem to have hot smoke and burn too quick but it's ok, It works.
I'll finish off the bag and move on, to what I'm not sure yet.
I roll up cardboard with a piece of old tee shirt in the roll, over a bed of soft wood coals. Works great for me.
DM
Cardboard smoke makes me gag. If it's that bad for me to breathe, it's probably not that good for bees. I think there is something to be said about being overly cautious when it comes to smoking glue and chemicals into the hive.
Thanks for the replies. I think I will be looking for some wood chips or sawdust and maybe using old tee shirts in the mean time.
If I start using wood chips, I will have to figure out another lighting scheme. I currently put a tea light under my roll of cardboard while suiting up and then its ready to go in the smoker. Maybe I can fabricate a small cup made from 1/4 inch hardware cloth that just fits inside of my smoker and continue lighting the same way I have been.
Old Blue
In the June 2010 Bee Culture there's an article by Ann Harmon on toxic smoker fuels. She notes that the Weslaco Bee Lab tested cardboard as smoker fuel and while some was harmless, others were lethal to bees. Just depends on the glue used, which isn't something we're gonna know when we roll it up for our smokers. She also points out that some cardboard, especially boxes used in grocery stores, may have been treated with insecticide.
Yesterday, my wife used my car after I'd returned from a beeyard. I warned her that the car smelled like smoke. She said that's okay, she likes the smell. When she came home she said it smelled like bar-b-q. I got in and she was right. It must be that hardwood sawdust.
I've also used staghorn sumac seed pods. When they are dried out they make an excellent smoker fuel.
I must be doing it wrong my recipe is to simple, handfull of sticks , handful of leaves. I've found nothing easier than the confetti from the paper shredder to get a smoker going.