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British Beekeepers Association Official Forum 

  • Under supering rapeseed honey alternative to harvesting

  • General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #5745  by Japey Edge
 18 Feb 2020, 11:46
AdamD wrote:
18 Feb 2020, 11:20
I do wonder what 'stuff' gets into a hive when we smoke the bees. If we are, say, using shredded cardboard and there's some plastic labels that were stuck to the cardboard and get burned as well, is that very good for us when we puff it over food?
In reality, a few puffs across the top bars of a brood box is not the same as kippering uncapped honey. We can leave that to youtubers! :lol:
I was thinking that. When I make my cardboard rolls (credit to Nigel for the idea), I peel off labels and try not to use any cardboard with inks on. I aim to go for the plain stuff if possible.
Even then, what do the ingredients in cardboard contribute to the nastiness? The pulp ingredients, the glues etc.
My bees seem fine with how I have it so far. I have a lot of lavender from last year and I stuff that in the smoker too.

Sorry for going further off-topic :lol: I haven't enough experience to contribute to this topic so I'll leave now :D
 #5747  by NigelP
 18 Feb 2020, 12:55
Belkows is a short list of some of the more common hazardous compounds found in pure wood smoke.....

Wood smoke composition.
carbon monoxide
methane
Volatile organic compounds (C2-C7)
aldehydes
substituted furans
benzene
alkyl benzenes
acetic acid
formic acid
nitrogen oxides
sulfur dioxide
methyl chloride
napthalene
substituted napthalenes
oxygenated monoaromatics
total particle mass
particulate organic carbon
oxygenated Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
Individual PAHs
chlorinated dioxins
normal alkanes (C24-C30)