In my last post I told you all about our Friday Night Live Bee Removal. It turns out we captured some extra footage of Jeff Lutz, The Bee Whisperer, giving advice about how to light a bee smoker. If you do a Google search for Videos on “How to light a bee smoker” you will find there are a lot of different ways to do it. I couldn’t find any video that does it the “Bee Whisperer Way”… so I figure we should share it with the world.
So how does the Bee Whisperer light a Bee Smoker? It’s actually really simple. He uses a handmade cardboard roll. Check out our video below. (For those of you who cant see our video, written directions are listed below.)
Directions on lighting a bee smoker using cardboard:
1. Cut 5″ strips of cardboard.
2. Roll the cardboard strips into a tight wheel.
3. Tape the roll into a tight cartridge that fits snugly into the smoker.
4. Make sure it’s not too tight and not too loose.
5. Light the center of the cardboard wheel and sway it back and forth until it develops a small flame.
6. Stuff the burning cardboard wheel into the smoker and voila…you’ll have a nice cool smoke that lasts a lot longer than crumpled newspaper.
So there you have it. A tip for Beekeepers from the Bee Whisperer. Try it out and let us know what you think. Got a better way to light a smoker? Let us know! We always love to hear other ways of making Beekeeping easy.
