Best Bee Hive Smoker

 In this posting, I review the Bee-Z-Smoker, a smoker that makes working in your bee hives easier.

A smoker is an essential part of any bee keepers kit.  A traditional smoker is really nothing more than a metal can with a bellows attached.  You place some kind of combustible inside the can, light it, and use the bellows to keep the fire going and drive smoke through a spout in the top of the can.

Smoking bees keeps them calm and makes it easier for the bee keeper to work inside the hive.  Actually, the presence of smoke causes the bees to go into defensive mode.  The presence of smoke leads the bees to believe that that a forest fire is occurring; they enter the hive and begin gorging themselves on honey in advance of an evacuation.  The bee keeper has an opportunity to work in the hive because the bees are preoccupied.  Additionally, once the bees have stuffed themselves on honey, they have a more difficult time bending their abdomens to inflict a sting.  So the bee keeper is also less likely to take a hit.

Lighting a smoker is fairly easy in concept.  Just load the can with pine needles, twine, leaves, wood chips, cardboard or any other combustible and then light it with a match.  In practice, it's actually a lot more difficult to do, so many bee keepers use a propane torch to light their smokers. 

One might think it's easy to light a smoker with a propane torch, but I've found this to also be fairly challenging. Whenever, I place the tip of the torch into the can it either causes a huge flair-up or the torch extinguishes itself.  So I decided to investigate alternatives on the Internet and found the Bee-Z-Smoker from Stinger Innovations, Inc.

The Bee-Z smoker uses an electronic system to ignite wood shavings that you insert into the can.  It works on the same principle that used in your toaster.  Electricity is run through a set of bare wires inside the smoker and these heat to cause the wood shavings to catch on fire.  An electric fan inside the Bee-Z handle replaces the traditional bellows and is used to drives smoke through the snout of the can.  The unit is powered by a series of batteries stored in the handle.  The batteries are charged with an adapter that plugs into any electric outlet.

I found using the Bee-Z-Smoker to be quite easy.  It made lighting the smoker much easier than using a match or propane torch.  The only drawback to the Bee-Z is that it's fairly pricey;  a normal smoker costs about $35.  A Bee-Z will lighten your wallet by $149.  Still, I think it's worth it. 

 

One small quibble I have is that the smoker uses a switch to light the wood chips and another to blow the fan.  Two switches is not a problem, but the placement of these controls is counter intuitive in my opinion.  Ignition is accomplished via a trigger switch that you operate with your forefinger.  The blower switch is located on the top of the unit and is driven with your thumb.  In my opinion, it would have made more sense to reverse the functions of these two switches because you will be driving smoke through the unit more frequently than lighting the unit and the trigger switch is easier and more accessible to use.

Updated 1/26/2012:

After reading this posting, the manufacturer contacted me about the aforementioned position of the fan and ignition switches.  Upon reflection, I agree that this is much safer approach.  Below is the explanation....

"We have the switches positioned in their configuration for safety concerns.  When the BEE-Z-SMOKER is dropped, only the fan button will ever engage by accident.  If the heating element switch were on the outside of the handle it could be ‘wedged’ against something when/if it is dropped thereby creating a LARGE fire hazard.  This potential hazard is simply too large to ignore."

Below is a photo of a traditional smoker and the Bee-Z.

 

Comments

[David W Michelson]

Nice unit. It would be convenient to have an adapter or the unit built to accommodate a standard 18v tool battery like Ryobi's. Maybe I could modify it...I have one ordered.