First of all Hops, I'm sorry to post over top your idea, been meaning to post this a long time ago.
Went to purchase some Russian Nucs from a friend of mine in Alabama.
He was smoking a Marlboro to keep the bees away, supposedly.
We walked to the nucs I was picking up. He said Joe, you've got to look at these nucs, their super!
He picked up his smoker and a handful of pine needles.
Lit up the pine needles with his lighter, got a good flame, and stuffed them in the smoker. Puffed a few times and stuffed more needles in the smoker.
That smoker ran for an hour. Just normal usage , we went thru 15 nucs. Of course they were insane nucs.
I went back to Ohio/Indiana and purchased a bale of pine straw to use in my smoker. I carry a Lowes bucket full of the needles when I need to reload. Best decision I ever made when it comes to the smoker. Easy to lite, easy to maintain, easy to relight, easy.
My friends in the south will laugh and say we already knew this, but, us midwesterners (and a few of you Yankees) don't have ready access to pine needles.
Keeping your smoker lit with pine needles is the way to go. Forget, twigs, bark, cardboard, pellets. Pine needles and done. $10 a bale, and keep it dry.