Has anyone tried a cigar or pipe smoke for a quick inspection. I kinda like the looks of a german smoker I have seen on a u tube video. It doesn't lend itself to a veil but you could wear grinding goggles.
I think I've seen that video too. I don't know how well it would work but I would not like getting my face that close and breathing on them. I know they don't appreciate it when I blow on them to move them when I want to see in the cells.
Nicotine was used for killing insects. It was painted on chicken roosts to kill lice on the birds. I would avoid using nicotine-containing products on honeybees.
Sunniest regards, -W
I bought a Nuc in Nashville Tenn from a fellow who was from Jordan and a cigar smoke was all he used and he had thousands of bees flying around as we opened several hives .I had on a veil and jacket!Ha He didn't get stung even once!
Quote from: GeezLouise on May 22, 2016, 01:25:56 PM
Nicotine was used for killing insects.
So is water ... There is no nicotine in smoker fuel?
Both of my greatgrandpas in Germany were beekeepers. I remember them both. They both worked their bees with only a pipe in their mouths. They were never without a pipe. lol
Quote from: GeezLouise on May 22, 2016, 01:25:56 PM
Nicotine was used for killing insects. It was painted on chicken roosts to kill lice on the birds. I would avoid using nicotine-containing products on honeybees.
Sunniest regards, -W
Hence the name: Neonicotinoid.
Very toxic to bees.
If I remember the old videos of the beekeepers in Germany, the pipe they used was not for them to smoke with but was designed to blow smoke into the hive. They just kept it in their mouth and blew into the pipe to smoke a hive. I never remember seeing them take a puff like they were smoking it.
Jim
No Jim you don't puff on it, I wonder if there is a check valve. It does look like a pipe though.
I know the German pipe smoker you're talking about. That's not what I meant. They smoked a real pipe. All the time. And when they worked the bees, they'd puff a little and keep on going. Like you're
asking, acebird...
Quote from: Acebird on May 22, 2016, 09:54:10 AM
Has anyone tried a cigar or pipe smoke for a quick inspection.
Why yes, my greatgranfathers worked their bees with a pipe. I've personally tried with just a cigar but that didn't work well with the veil. lol
I've seen old photographs and film of European beeks using pipes through a veil. I guess they just tuck the screen right in with the pipe stem. I've seen a vid on youtube of an Eastern European beek using a cigarette to smoke the bees.
Nicotine as used on plants as an insecticide is in liquid form, and highly toxic that way because it is much more concentrated. When in smoke, it is much less concentrated and requires accumulation over time. The greatest harm from using tobacco as your smoke is to yourself. You would be the one accumulating the poison. The bees don't live long enough for it to do much damage to them. There are a number of toxic molecules in any kind of smoke.
Quote from: Hops Brewster on May 24, 2016, 01:27:39 PM
The greatest harm from using tobacco as your smoke is to yourself.
I am not in favor of smoking but assuming the smoke was not drawn into your lungs the effect of smoking is greatly reduced.
I wouldn't take it up, if I were you, if you don't already smoke. lol
I just hum that Deep Purple tune "Smoke on the Water" as I am doing inspections....it calms them right down :cool:
Quote from: MT Bee Girl on May 24, 2016, 04:26:58 PM
I wouldn't take it up, if I were you,
I gave it up more than 40 years ago. Best financial decision I ever made and I had no idea it was a financial decision.
For those of us who garden where are bees are we need to be careful I have always heard of the tobacco mosaic virus getting into our plants from cigarettes.
I smoke and ride in the car with the windows up. I went and inspected some hives with my sorta mentor and he was getting lit up by the bees. I am not saying when I am the actual one holding the frames that I won't get lit up but untill I do there is always hope. I sit and watch the hives and when a bee comes close I just try to confuse her with cigerette smoke.
I wonder how much honey has been eaten due to the wind blowing my smoke into the hive?
I was actually thinking about that question while watching them this morning.
Cheers
gww
Quote from: Acebird on May 24, 2016, 02:31:10 PM
Quote from: Hops Brewster on May 24, 2016, 01:27:39 PM
The greatest harm from using tobacco as your smoke is to yourself.
I am not in favor of smoking but assuming the smoke was not drawn into your lungs the effect of smoking is greatly reduced.
No, you don't have to inhale the tobacco smoke for it to be harmful. Many pipe and cigar smokers generally don't intentionally inhale (though some do), but are still subject to mouth and throat cancers. And they're still inhaling a bit of second-hand smoke from the air.
Quote from: Acebird on May 24, 2016, 02:31:10 PM
Quote from: Hops Brewster on May 24, 2016, 01:27:39 PM
The greatest harm from using tobacco as your smoke is to yourself.
I am not in favor of smoking but assuming the smoke was not drawn into your lungs the effect of smoking is greatly reduced.
My uncle had his lips amputated due to years of cigars. It made his eating rather unsightly.
I once met a older man that walked around with a cigar in his mouth. At one point he removed the cigar and he had a hole in his bottom lip that was the diameter of the cigar. Very gross.
Jim
I think most people are aware of the consequences of smoking and certainly I am not promoting it for beekeepers but I was curious as to whether it was a method use by old timers to calm their bees. I got my answer to my curiosity. I think a safe bee smoker could be made in a pipe shaped fashion that uses the positive pressure of your lungs for quick inspection instead of loading a traditional bee smoker that some people have trouble lighting and keep going. The part that I like about the "german pipe smoker" is it leaves both hands free. Funny how that feature got thrown by the wayside.
According to my German relatives and ancestors the tobacco has a greater calming affect on the bees than regular smoke... True? I dont know... A friend brought me some dried tobacco leaves, I reserve them for the ornery hives. It either works, or it gives "me" the confidence I need to work those hives. I only know I seem to get stung a little less. the bees dont seem to get as angry when smoked with tobacco smoke for the twentyth time....
Was given a pipe when I was thirteen, and taught how to keep it lit, and use on the bees when we worked the hives. Didn't like it much, but it worked and I didnt get stung as much. Tobacco was cheap back then, not so much any more. Don't smoke, but it does have an added affect when used on bees.. Why? No Idea... and comparing tobacco smoke to Neonics is like you killing yourself by eating salt or sugar.. Neither are good for you in large amounts, but are easily tolerated in smaller amounts. You would have to eat a LOT in order for it to harm you.. The same holds true with the smoke for the bees... Do you think ANY smoke is truly good for the bees? Or you?
Oldmech
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Re: Cigar or pipe smoke
? Reply #21 on: Today at 07:33:37 PM ?
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According to my German relatives and ancestors the tobacco has a greater calming affect on the bees than regular smoke...
I have smoked since I was 13. I have sit around a lot of camp fires. I assure you that I am calmer with a cigerette in my hand even if I am also around a camp fire. I don't know about bees but hope I don't get them so hooked that they want to follow me to the basement. I am going to have to try smoking with it one day cause my homemade smoker, though ok is still pretty hard to use. Going to have to switch to cigars though cause ciggerretts only last about 5 min and I had about as hard a time keeping a pipe lit as I do my smoker.
If I get lit up by the bees, I will report back.
gww
LOL I wish you luck!