lip through any equip- plicity in design but usefulness in function. the prying abilities of hive tools. Make no ment catalogue and you will be over- Hive tools are used by prin- mistake: this is a job for the hive tool. Ac- Fwhelmed by the huge diversity of cipally to pry supers apart, leverage frames cept no substitutes. Over the years, I have equipment available to beekeepers. There out of the supers, and scrape wax/propolis/ used butter knives, screwdrivers, etc. to are gadgets, gizmos, must-haves, useful whatever from various hive components. work colonies. All pale in comparison to tools, and equipment about which one is Most of the hive tool’s function is derived the hive tool in durability and functionality. left to scratch their head and wonder what from the fact that bees use propolis, the bee- Hive tools are the biggest steal among all the purpose actually is. I enjoy getting the keeper term for the plant exudates, resins, beekeeping equipment. They are economi- various companies’ equipment catalogues and saps that bees collect and use inside the cal and essential. How often can we say that yearly just to see what new gadgets beekeep- hive. Bees glue supers together, frames in- about something? ers have invented and coerced the equipment side hives, etc. using propolis. The product Of course, people are always trying to im- companies to sell. Beekeepers are ingenious is so sticky that a hive simply could not be prove upon the basic hive tool design. I have and their creativity spawns some really good taken apart and frames removed without seen long hive tools, skinny hive tools, fat ideas. Though you may not know it, I am three articles deep into a four-part series on bee- keeping equipment. In March, I reviewed the basic parts of the . I wrote about personal protective equipment in April. I am going to continue the four-part series on beekeeping equipment by discussing what I believe to be the two most important tools in the ’s arsenal. These gadgets are simple, as most of the best inventions are. They are also indispensable, veritable “must haves” for every beekeeper. They are, of course, the hive tool and smoker.

Hive Tool One of the things I like about beekeeping is that we are, for the most part, so literal with our equipment nomenclature. Consis- tent with this tradition, the “hive tool” liter- ally is a tool that we use in/on the hive. In its most basic form, the hive tool is a flat piece of metal that is curved at a 90º angle on one end (the “scraper” end) and widened/ flattened on the opposite end (Figure 1). Figure 1: The hive tool. Note the curved end (right side of tool) and the flat end There may be a hole in the tool close to the (left side of tool). Many hive tools have a hole close to the curved end that can scraper end that can be used to pry nails out be used to pull nails. This hive tool is quite special. It is the hive tool I started of wood. The genius of this tool is its sim- using when I was 12. I have never used another one with my own colonies. May 2014 497

ABJ_May_2014_.indb 497 3/28/2014 2:19:40 PM hive tools, strangely-shaped hive tools, and causes bees to gorge on , perhaps be- (2) that full bees could not fly well, hence more. Personally, I am old fashioned when cause they “fear” a fire is coming and are they could not sting you. I believed this for a it comes to using hive tools. However, I preparing to leave the nest. However, I have long time until I thought through the logic of have discovered that beekeepers usually smoked the mess out of colonies before and both statements (i.e. why would they gorge most like what they originally used. So, feel could not get them to leave their nests. If it to leave a fire if gorged bees are too heavy free to use the more modern tools. is fire preparation, they are either lousy at to fly?). I have heard other variations of the Other points to consider when using hive knowing when to go or have a super high gorging scenario as well (for example, en- tools: threshold for smoke. I grew up being told gorged bees are not inclined to sting – which (1) it was preparation for fleeing a fire and may be true – seems like a good project). • Hive tools are EASY to lose, or so I Do not misunderstand me: bees do appear am told. Personally, I use the same hive to gorge on food stores when smoked. I just tool I have had since I was 12. How- do not believe we fully know why. ever, most people I know go through A more likely explanation concerns a hive tools at the same rate that they go masking of bee communication abilities by through toilet paper (a lot, people). Buy the volume of smoke pumped into the nest more than one. Keep one in your truck, (though, I have seen no research to support one with your suit, one with your tool- this idea either). Bees communicate prin- box, one under your pillow, etc. You cipally through pheromones, or chemical will thank me if you do. smells, that they must perceive with their • Put your hive tool into your pants antennae. A colony gearing up for a defen- pocket, bee suit pocket, or something sive response produces alarm pheromone. similar while working bees. My phi- Smoke may mask the alarm pheromone or losophy is that my hive tool ALWAYS occupy the bees’ sensory receptors, thus goes into my back right pocket while minimizing the defensive response. Smoke working bees. I never put it on the may “cover up” the alarm pheromone, much ground, on the hive, in the truck, etc. the same way cologne or bathroom spray Most of today’s bee suits have special works for us. pockets for hive tools. I have even seen Like the hive tool, the smoker is a beau- work belts that have magnetic strips tifully simple device. It is composed of 4 onto which one can magnetically attach main parts (Figures 2 and 3): the bellow, their hive tool. Figure 2: The smoker. (A) bellow, (B) the body (or firepot), the funnel-shaped lid, • If you elect to keep your hive tool in smoker body or firepot, (c) lid with and the internal grate. When the bellow is your back pocket, put it curved side nozzle facing up and to the left. The squeezed, air is forced out a small hole in down, sharp end up and out of the bellow contains an upper valve hole the bottom of the bellow through a small pocket. Putting it curved side down that pulls air in when the bellow is re- hole in the back of the smoker body (Figure keeps it in the pocket; otherwise, the laxed (upper arrow on bellow) and a 2). The air is forced up through the smoker curved side pointing out of your pocket lower valve hole that pushes air out, body and out the nozzle in the smoker lid. makes it top heavy and likely to fall out into the bottom of the smoker body Air is pulled into a hole at the top of the of your pocket. Pointing the sharp end (lower arrow on bellow). This smoker bellow when the bellow is relaxed. I have away from the body when the hive tool has a protective wire shield that outlined in Figure 4 the steps of successfully is in your pocket is insurance against helps stop the user from touching the lighting a smoker. A well-lit smoker is only ham punctures.☺ Do not forget to re- smoker body. an asset, though, if it is used correctly. move the hive tool from your pocket The correct use of a smoker, i.e. how once the work is done and before you much to smoke a colony, is a learned art sit down. I know a lot of beekeepers that is refined over time. Here are some who slice up their truck seats because helpful hints. (1) Smoke the colony BE- they forgot to remove the hive tool FORE opening it and before the colony has from their pocket. initiated a defensive response. It is hard to • Hive tools are easy to sterilize (put subdue some colonies with smoke once the them into a lit smoker) and clean (use defensive response has started. (2) Smoke another hive tool to scrape off the wax/ can be directed into the colony entrance, or propolis). You should do both often. entrances depending on the quality of your • Some people sharpen both ends of their equipment☺, and just under the colony lid. hive tools yearly. I do not find this to be (3) Use an appropriate amount of smoke. a necessary task. What is the appropriate amount? Read the • In case you have forgotten – BUY bees to make the decision about how much MORE THAN ONE! smoke is necessary. If the bees are mount- ing an attack, USE MORE SMOKE. If Smoker Figure 3: The open smoker. The lid of they are not trying to sting you, there is no People have been using smoke to calm this smoker has been opened and the need to smoke them heavily. Interestingly bees for thousands of years. There are early metal grate removed from the bottom enough, I work with many new beekeepers cave/cliff paintings of honey robbers hold- and the most common problem is an under- ing smoldering plants, pots, and other such inside of the smoker body. This grate use, rather than overuse, of smoke. (4) Some items. It is not fully known when smoke was creates airspace between the bottom beekeepers wait a few minutes to go into the first used to work with bees or even how its of the smoker body and bottom of the colony once the colony has been smoked. I usefulness was discovered. However, it is fuel, if inserted correctly with the legs rarely do, but it can help when working a undeniable that smoke has been an impor- of the grate facing down. Over time, colony known to be defensive. (5) Lightly tant part of honey hunting and beekeeping this area can fill up with ashes/coals/ smoke each frame before removing them for a long time. soot from old fuel, thus impacting from the colony during inspections (2 or so How does the smoker work? Great ques- smoker function. The grate needs to “half puffs” of smoke are usually sufficient). tion. I have heard many answers to this be removed and the ashes dumped (6) Personally, I like to lightly smoke colo- question. Many people feel that smoke periodically. nies when I return frames, supers, and lids

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ABJ_May_2014_.indb 498 3/28/2014 2:19:43 PM to the colonies. This moves the bees out of pavement, bare ground, or in the water. You may say you only have 1 colony. the way and minimizes potential bee death. You should take care to ensure that the My reply: every beekeeper starts with Other notable smoker information: fire is out before leaving the unspent one colony…and how many stay fuel/coals. there? • Moses Quinby invented the first “mod- • The body of a lit smoker burns ev- • When smokers run out of fuel, the re- ern” smoker in 1873. erything it touches, including fingers, sulting smoke is thin and gray. If care • Do not over-smoke colonies, espe- bees, pant legs, etc. Many modern is not taken, puffs on the bellow can cially when honey is being produced. smokers have “shields” on them that shoot embers or sparks out of the noz- Smoked honey does not taste good and keep the user from touching the hot zle, thus being a potential fire hazard. it will cost you a honey show 100% of smoker body (Figure 2). Such smokers • Smokers go out if not started properly the time. I was taught that placing wet are worth the investment. (see Figure 4). Puff, puff, puff the bel- grass on top of the smoker fuel in the • Speaking of investment, go ahead and low. Do this regularly when the smoker smoker body will filter out some of the buy a large smoker. They hold more is in use. I often use my foot to puff the burnt debris (ashes and soot) that exits fuel and last longer in the field. You smoker bellow while working colonies the smoker every time you squeeze the might as well get it right the first time. if the smoker is packed really tight, i.e. bellow. • Smoke disrupts hive behavior, though bees seem to return to normal behav- Honey Bees 101: The “African” ior within a relatively short period of time after being smoked (often within African races of honey bees all belong to the same species, called the western honey 30 minutes). bee or Apis mellifera. This species is distributed in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. • Some people use various types of African races of A. mellifera occupy nearly the entire African continent, except desert smoker fuels in an attempt to calm areas where there is not enough forage to support honey bee populations. Interestingly, bees more than smoke alone ordinar- there are races of African honey bees that have been found to inhabit oases within vast ily does, or perhaps to control bee pests deserts. such as Varroa. I do not believe this is There are many, maybe 2 dozen or more, races of African honey bees. Probably the a safe practice, either for the bee or the most known outside of Africa is Apis mellifera scutellata or “the ”. This is beekeeper. Smoker fuel should be un- the “killer bee” of the press and it is the one African race present in the Americas. I say treated and as natural as possible [pine “the African bee” because there are many races in Africa. Our common name for the bee straw, hay, wood chips/pellets, dried implies that there is only one and that we have it. This is unfair to the other African honey herbivore feces (cow/horse patties), bee races, which are amazing in their own right. rotten wood, etc.]. Be wary of burlap, I am quite partial to African races of honey bees in general because I did my PhD bailing twine, etc. Many of these may in South Africa and continue to research the honey bees there. African honey bees are contain chemicals that, when burned, remarkable. They are quite diverse and usually very different behaviorally from the Eu- are released and may harm the bees. ropean races of honey bees that we use in our beekeeping operations. I list some gen- • Smokers can cause fires! Be careful eralizations about African bees below. Of course, any generalized list is susceptible to where you rest and lite them. I kept a exceptions, but the traits below are those typically associated with the many races that lit smoker in the back of my truck on inhabit the beautiful continent. the return trip home from my first api- ary. I melted my veil and burned up • Many races of African bees are more defensive than their European cousins. This my bee suit, all because the lit smoker is due to many reasons, possibly including the way humans have interacted with was touching the cloth in the back of them over the ages. For example, beekeeping was the norm in Europe while honey the truck. I also caught the ground in hunting was more common in Africa. The former tends to produce gentle bees (who my on fire by lighting a smoker wants to keep defensive bees), while the latter could work the other way. on the ground in the dry grass. I rec- • African races of honey bees tend to use copious amounts of propolis. ommend lighting smokers on non- • Many African honey bee races are resistant or show some tolerance to some of the flammable surfaces (the tailgate of a pests/pathogens that plague European honey bees. truck, in a wheel barrow, etc.). I also • African honey bee races are well-adapted to warm climates (tropical, subtropical, recommend purchasing and using one arid, semi-arid) and tend to do poorly in temperate ones. They tend not be able to of the various smoker boxes sold by the cluster as well in winter. beekeeping equipment/supply compa- • African honey bees are “runnier on the combs”, meaning that they quickly leave nies. This box will hold a lit smoker the combs when the hive is opened, and are “flightier”. The latter describes their and keep it out of contact with flamma- propensity to take to the air when the hive is opened. Both behaviors have their ad- ble objects. I suggest plugging the exit vantages (it is easy to inspect combs unoccupied by bees) and disadvantages (they hole in the smoker lid when traveling can crowd the hive walls, making it difficult to find the queen). down the road with a lit smoker in the • Many African honey bee races abscond readily in response to limited resources, back of a truck. The airflow past and disturbance, and pests/pathogens. This can make the colonies hard to work due to through an uncorked smoker causes it the risk of promoting absconding. to smoke profusely, convincing every- • African honey bee nests tend to be smaller than those of European honey bees. one behind you that your vehicle is on Consequently, they store less honey. They also will more readily nest in the ground fire. Plugging the lid usually keeps the and in less-protected cavities (or even no cavities at all). passing drivers from honking/flashing their lights at you. It is, of course, hard to overgeneralize about honey bee races distributed over a con- • I keep my smoker upright when I want tinent as large as Africa. In fact, it is the bee’s diversity in Africa that I appreciate most it to remain lit, such as while working about African bees. Some notable races include: capensis (an amazing bee, in the south- an apiary. I turn it on its side when I ern tip of the African continent), scutellata (the “killer bee” of the Americas), lamarckii am ready for it to stop smoking. This (the Egyptian bees), nubica (Nubian honey bee), adansonii (west African bee), and in- will put the fire out and preserve the termissa (north African bee). There is something surreal about working honey bees in remaining fuel in the smoker until next an area where they are native. Africa exemplifies this since most beekeepers use wild- time you light it. The quickest, saf- caught colonies and do not invest heavily in breeding programs or splitting hives. Conse- est way to stop a smoker is to open it quently, the honey bees of Africa are about as unspoiled as you get with Apis mellifera. and dump the remaining fuel/coals on All beekeepers should have the pleasure of working bees in Africa.

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