do i need a smoker?

[bnm1000]

Just starting this year and will be installing a package into a new warre hive? I have a veil, jacket, hive tool and brush. Do I really need a smoker, or can I get by with just a hand sprayer when working with my warre?

[hpm08161947]

There will come a time when you wished you had one. No flow... nothing for the bees to do but hang around and bee grumpy, and you have some serious manipulation to do.....

[quevernick]

Smokers are cheap enough and unless I've missed something there arent really any downsides to using one. Well some people have a problem keeping it lit but I've never really had an issue.

[vegasvalet]

During my first year I very rarely used a smoker but there were times when I was VERY glad I had it. Get a smoker, it's a good insurance policy to have....

[Jim 134]

Just starting this year and will be installing a package into a new warre hive? I have a veil, jacket, hive tool and brush. Do I really need a smoker, or can I get by with just a hand sprayer when working with my warre?

Not if you like running a lot


BEE HAPPY Jim 134

[REN]

Buy a smoker. It is a small investment and if you're serious about keeping bees, you'll need it.

[Riverratbees]

It will pay for itself the 1st day they are in a bad mood.

[Slow Modem]

Not if you like running a lot

I don't run, but I can walk very smartly!

[robherc]

Invest in a decent smoker, or in an EXCELLENT veil+suit. I opted for the veil+suit myself, but I also threw together a "tin-can smoker" to use whenever my nerves start getting the better of me & it's time to calm down some bees during a cut-out

[Beagler]

It's actually better for the bees even if they are very gentle. The smoke will go away and the bees can return to normal sooner than the alarm pheremone will leave the hive.

[SteveBee]

You don't NEED a smoker. You WANT a smoker.

[bwdenen]

You don't NEED a smoker. You WANT a smoker.

Couldn't have said it better. I have made the mistake...once, of not using my smoker. It's the only time I had to run away from the hive. They chased me all the way around to the front of my house, over 250 feet and AROUND it. IMHO, get a smoker.

[Michael Bush]

As much as I like a smoker (and you should have one) I don't use them for package installs. The bees need to smell the pheromones to get organized and they are basically a swarm with nothing to defend.

[robherc]

I did a MASSIVE cut-out last night; forgot my smoker in the garage on my way out... Turned out to be a MEAN hive, AND the biggest feral hive I've ever seen! My wife and I are both VERY sore now; should've brought the dang smoker!

[Oldtimer]

Don't get one. It's much better to let the bees get worked up angry and upset when you open the hive, boil up all over everything so you end up crushing lots of them to death, and get the crap stung out of you.

That's unless it's a good day, but not every day is a good day.

I have seen the "I never use a smoker it's so much better for the bees" type statements, although I've never had it explained why this is better for the bees. It's also noticeable that these statements usually come from someone with very little practicle experience, and for obvious reasons. Once they have experienced a smoker they discover how much better it is for the bees.

Just, as has been said, don't use a smoker when installing a package or a swarm. The rest of the time, use one.

[amethysta]

When I first started, I had read that you don't need a smoker. That philosophy ended quickly after my first inspection.

[bnm1000]

Great - Thanks everyone. I will get one. Probably won't use it for the install, but will make sure I will practice with it before the bees arrive!

[Oldtimer]

Straight up, the "I don't use a smoker" thing started happening a few years ago after a film came out, it was a cartoon about a beehive, and the beekeeper was this big evil guy with a smoker, who took their honey. Can't remember what the film was called maybe someone can.

Anyway that's where this no smoker stuff came from, a cartoon. Combine that with little experience, and new age philosophies, and you get smoker = bad.

[BuzzyBuzz]

Here is Phil Chandler using powdered sugar as an alternative to a smoker http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00dczts

[Oldtimer]

Video wouldn't work for me but I did see the still shot of his powder blowing machine.

Just wondering, what is more natural about using that machine to blow powdered sugar all over them, than using a smoker?

Also, that top bar hive in the pic, is very weak. If there was a langstroth hive that weak in bees, you likely wouldn't need a smoker either.

Kinda wondering if to Phil, everything anybody has done in the past is wrong, he just has to do something different, just for the sake of it. There is no way I would bother setting up that machine and blowing powder all over my bees.