Welcome, Guest

Author Topic: corn cobs for smoker fuel  (Read 6544 times)

Offline sterling

  • Queen Bee
  • ****
  • Posts: 1143
  • Gender: Male
corn cobs for smoker fuel
« on: February 21, 2013, 07:48:12 pm »
I was stumbling around the internet and saw this on the West Virginia Beekeepers news letter. What do you think?

Did you know? Using corn products (cobs, husks, leaves) as smoker fuel is detrimental to your bees !!! They produce a smoke that kills bees hours to days after exposure. Commonly used fuel sources include: burlap bags, rags, cardboard, wood chips/pellets, compressed cotton, pine shavings, eucalyptus leaves, and broken pine needles.

Offline hardwood

  • Galactic Bee
  • ******
  • Posts: 3482
  • Gender: Male
  • Alysian Apiaries youtube.com/MrBeedude
Re: corn cobs for smoker fuel
« Reply #1 on: February 21, 2013, 08:42:10 pm »
When I worked with REDBEE for they honey season in S.D. corn cobs soaked in old motor oil was all we used. As far as I know they were all that were ever used over 30yrs. Lighting the smoker was a learning curve but once lit, they would burn a good while. I sure didn't notice any harm being done to the bees.

Scott
"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

Offline REDBEE

  • Heavenly Beekeeper
  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 110
  • Gender: Male
Re: corn cobs for smoker fuel
« Reply #2 on: February 21, 2013, 08:58:31 pm »
like Scott said every commercial beekeeper in the mid west that I know uses corn cobs and have for over 50 years ,we use to bring drums filled with cobs to Texas for smoker fuel because they worked so well and could be picked up anywhere in the corn belt


Offline Vance G

  • Queen Bee
  • ****
  • Posts: 1170
Re: corn cobs for smoker fuel
« Reply #3 on: February 21, 2013, 11:12:22 pm »
I like pine straw (last years needles) it is always available under any longneedles evergreen.  My favorite is old gunny sacks/burlap/jute bags.  Not enough corn cobs here for the outhouse and penny's just dropped their catalog.  Hard times coming. 

Offline greenbtree

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 598
  • Gender: Female
Re: corn cobs for smoker fuel
« Reply #4 on: February 21, 2013, 11:58:13 pm »
Maybe somebody got a contaminated batch.

JC
"Rise again, rise again - though your heart it be broken, or life about to end.  No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend, like the Mary Ellen Carter rise again!"

Offline rwurster

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 89
Re: corn cobs for smoker fuel
« Reply #5 on: February 22, 2013, 02:24:15 am »
I gather a trashcan full of cobs and a trashcan full of husks out of our field every year for use as smoker fuel.  That's pretty much all i've ever used in my apiary.
Zone 5a @ 4700 ft. High Desert
Facebook Link

Offline 10framer

  • Super Bee
  • *****
  • Posts: 1701
Re: corn cobs for smoker fuel
« Reply #6 on: February 22, 2013, 08:37:54 am »
i would say that pine straw has been used for at least 100 years down here in the south.  too much of any kind of smoke is bad for the bees and probably kills some.  a couple of puffs in the entrance followed by one or top as you open the top should be all you need to get through most hives.

Moots

  • Guest
Re: corn cobs for smoker fuel
« Reply #7 on: February 22, 2013, 08:41:43 am »
OK...I'm not in Virginia and will probably never have the opportunity to use corn cobs as smoker fuel.  

That being said, things like this spike my curiosity.... :-D

I shot an email off to the president of the WVBA along with a link to this thread explaining that this bit of information seemed to be new news to everyone here.  Asked if he could supply some further information as to theory or science to support this recommendation.  

When/if I get a response, I'll be sure to post.  :)

Offline fshrgy99

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 203
Re: corn cobs for smoker fuel
« Reply #8 on: February 22, 2013, 10:51:44 am »
Although I am a newbee I have talked to a lot of the commercial producers locally and hear over and over again that our bee populations in Ontario are decimated the week they plant the corn. The suggested cause is seed corn treated with pesticide. Since this is a modern innovation I wonder if these cobs used in smokers might also be affected by traces of the same pesticide? (Just wondering 'out loud')

Offline Intheswamp

  • Super Bee
  • *****
  • Posts: 1501
    • BeeWeather.com
Re: corn cobs for smoker fuel
« Reply #9 on: February 22, 2013, 11:19:05 am »
Well fshrgy99, the same thoughts were passing through my mind...primarily neonicotinoids possibly being present in the cobs.  Research has found that a liquid given off by young corn plants whose seed has been treated by neonicotinoids is deadly to honey bees (but thankfully the bees don't really care much for it...as long as other nectar sources are present) so I could see have chemicals could end up being in the cob.  Having said that, cotton is heavily poisoned and many folks use trash that is gleaned from harvested fields...I've heard cautions given about using it but never an outright report of it harming some bees.  Making burning it neutralizes the poisons?  Like 10framer said, though, too much of any kind of smoke isn't good for the bees.

Ed
www.beeweather.com 
American blood spilled to protect the freedom and peace of people all over the world.  320,000 USA casualties in WWI, 1,076,000 USA casualties in WWII, 128,000 USA casualties in the Korean War, 211,000 casualties in the Vietnam "conflict", 57,000 USA casualties in "War on Terror".  Benghazi, Libya, 13 USA casualties. These figures don't include 70,000 MIA.  But, the leaders of one political party of the United States of America continue to make the statement..."What difference does it make?".

"We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism."..."The press is our chief ideological weapon." - Nikita Khrushchev

"Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they wont come to yours." - Yogi Berra

Online Ben Framed

  • Global Moderator
  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 12405
  • Mississippi Zone 7
Re: corn cobs for smoker fuel
« Reply #10 on: September 08, 2021, 06:24:17 am »
Anyone else have any thoughts or heard any more on this?
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline AustinB

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 155
  • Gender: Male
  • Christian, father, outdoorsman
Re: corn cobs for smoker fuel
« Reply #11 on: September 08, 2021, 10:10:52 am »
Anyone else have any thoughts or heard any more on this?
Lately I have seen multiple people on other forums talking about how they don't use smoke because its so harmful to the bees, and its harmful to the beekeeper with repeated exposure, etc etc.
I feel like its a lot like the treatment free thing, some people do it and swear by it, some people don't. I have heard of people using corn cobs as smoker fuel because they smolder nicely. If it did cause issues, maybe its a biproduct of some sort of chemical that is leftover on this heavily modified & treated corn we have nowadays.   
The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.
Proverbs 20:7

Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Proberbs 16:24

Online Ben Framed

  • Global Moderator
  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 12405
  • Mississippi Zone 7
Re: corn cobs for smoker fuel
« Reply #12 on: September 08, 2021, 11:24:13 am »
Although I am a newbee I have talked to a lot of the commercial producers locally and hear over and over again that our bee populations in Ontario are decimated the week they plant the corn. The suggested cause is seed corn treated with pesticide. Since this is a modern innovation I wonder if these cobs used in smokers might also be affected by traces of the same pesticide? (Just wondering 'out loud')


Quote
AustinB
maybe its a biproduct of some sort of chemical that is leftover on this heavily modified & treated corn we have nowadays.

If the report is correct, that makes sense. You both may be right?



 
« Last Edit: September 08, 2021, 11:48:52 am by Ben Framed »
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline paus

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 660
  • Gender: Male
Re: corn cobs for smoker fuel
« Reply #13 on: September 08, 2021, 02:50:27 pm »
My concern is that the bees live a few weeks and the smoke may harm them whereas we live many years consuming the same chemicals which may accumulate, in us, over time.  Who knows, cares, or is watching the results.

Offline TheHoneyPump

  • Queen Bee
  • ****
  • Posts: 1389
  • Work Hard. Play Harder.
corn cobs for smoker fuel
« Reply #14 on: September 08, 2021, 08:52:22 pm »
I recently tried the leaves, ends, and hairs off of corn cobs we had for dinner.  The cobs came from a local market garden.
Put those in the smoker to mess with a few hives behind the house.  While I enjoyed the smell, kinda sweetish popcorn like, the bees response was unexpected and surprising. In few words, they freaked out a bit. The cornscraps smoke did not calm them as well as other fuels I use.  It seemed to make otherwise calm hives to work with, runny on the combs and alot of excessive fanning. One hive got surprisingly aggressive/defensive - completely out of character for them.  Again, as compared to my other smoker fuels.
I have no idea if it is bad for them, for reasons mentioned by others above.  I can only say I did not like their response to it. No more cornbits shall be used in this huffer-puffer.
Just one data point as FYI.
When the lid goes back on, the bees will spend the next 3 days undoing most of what the beekeeper just did to them.

Offline paus

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 660
  • Gender: Male
Re: corn cobs for smoker fuel
« Reply #15 on: September 08, 2021, 09:49:46 pm »
Something that I read and almost forgot.  "Add a little bit of Ammonium Nitrate to the smoker and this makes laughing gas ie: N2O"  It is supposed to calm the the most aggressive hive.  I also heard personally from a 90+ YO BEEK that they used tobacco when he was younger and it calmed the meanest hive.  Just a thought.

Online Ben Framed

  • Global Moderator
  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 12405
  • Mississippi Zone 7
Re: corn cobs for smoker fuel
« Reply #16 on: September 08, 2021, 09:58:24 pm »
My concern is that the bees live a few weeks and the smoke may harm them whereas we live many years consuming the same chemicals which may accumulate, in us, over time.  Who knows, cares, or is watching the results.

That is a very good point Paus...  I wonder if the theories mentioned in these post of pesticides being incorporated into the cob, (the place of corn incubation), has been proven to exist there, being a hazard when burnt for smoke?




 
« Last Edit: September 09, 2021, 12:32:45 am by Ben Framed »
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline Nyleve

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 177
  • Gender: Female
Re: corn cobs for smoker fuel
« Reply #17 on: September 10, 2021, 04:34:56 pm »
My favourite smoker fuel I recently discovered is broken-up egg cartons. Stays smoky for a long time - and I always have a few in the house.

Online Ben Framed

  • Global Moderator
  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 12405
  • Mississippi Zone 7
Re: corn cobs for smoker fuel
« Reply #18 on: December 13, 2021, 08:27:29 pm »
My favourite smoker fuel I recently discovered is broken-up egg cartons. Stays smoky for a long time - and I always have a few in the house.

I can see that working. I was talking to one of my bee buddies from Texas a few weeks ago and he told me of another fuel I had not considered, pecan shells. He says this also makes a good smoker fuel. He is a member here. Maybe he will chime in when he reads this.. :grin:
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline gww

  • Super Bee
  • *****
  • Posts: 2263
Re: corn cobs for smoker fuel
« Reply #19 on: December 13, 2021, 09:47:54 pm »
I like cut grass.  It is not stiff and does not get in the way of the lid and lots of times more is just laying on the ground by the hives. 
Cheers
gww

 

anything