Peaceful and quiet watching bees come and go in my apiary this evening. Decided to experiment with how bees react to different tobacco. I'm smoking the first tobacco I bought when I started to smoke a pipe a few months back, Davidoff English Mixture. Bees don't seem to care one way or the other for it. Me, I think I have moved on to other things. Seems kinda flat after smoking some other blends like Balkan Supreme and Dark Fired Kentucky. What should I try next?I'm not expecting a song and dance from a bee chorus line, neither do I want an all out Blitzkrieg. Just a nice smoke that I enjoy while I'm out here and doesn't cause to much of a stir with their work. For me, English Mixture isn't it.
Bees and Davidoff English Mixture
- Thread starter dkmdvm
- Start date
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I would love to have bees but I’m not sure my neighbors would enjoy it as much. We have very active bee clubs here in SE Michigan and I would have gotten involved this year but for the current health crisis. Davidoff Medallions, Escudo, or Peterson Deluxe Navy Rolls would be my suggestion on your next tobacco experiment.
I guess I'm not sure what you're asking. Which tobacco will bees like? It's true that they sometimes do odd things that don't pertain to their survival. I once saw them drinking horse urine from a puddle of it- that surprised me.
My bees appear pretty single minded. They seek pollen and nectar, water and tree gum to seal their hives. They are concerned with building up their numbers to collect nectar which the evaporate into honey for winter stores. I have seen them interested in salt, though. Maybe they get minerals from it. Any tobacco interest on their part would greatly surprise me unless it was cased in honey or sugar. Try a few drops of lemongrass oil- their response will interest you.
My bees appear pretty single minded. They seek pollen and nectar, water and tree gum to seal their hives. They are concerned with building up their numbers to collect nectar which the evaporate into honey for winter stores. I have seen them interested in salt, though. Maybe they get minerals from it. Any tobacco interest on their part would greatly surprise me unless it was cased in honey or sugar. Try a few drops of lemongrass oil- their response will interest you.
I have some honey comb from a friend who keeps a few hives in his suburban garden, and the taste is quite unique (to me) in a honey context, but the smell is EXACTLY like the pouch note of Sir Walter Raleigh, which is a familiar friend...I don't feel the need to wax eloquent about it, but it could just be the bees knees!
Isaac
Isaac
I guess I'm not really asking, just curious if anyone had seen any cool responses. I have seen them drawn to a cattle trailer that just hauled a load of cows and was fresh with urine and manure. Seen them drawn to where my son pees off the back porch. I know they are drawn to other things as well, like lemongrass oil. I wonder if there is a pipe tobacco that would sort of act like a smoker to calm them. I would think it would be something close to Latakia that smells like a forest fire.
Your post calls to mind something interesting that I read about some time ago. A beekeeper was surprised to find that his honey supers were filling up with bright orange honey. Upon closer inspection he found the the orange colored honey smelled strongly of orange flavor and it tasted like orange soda pop.
It turned out that there was a Coca Cola bottling plant within a quarter of a mile radius of his apiary. The bees were ingesting the Fanta orange concentrate syrup and bringing it back to their hives and storing it.
On the subject of smoking a pipe while working hives. I like to fill a short beat up chin hugger and puff away while inspecting hives. It's pretty handy to simply blow smoke down on the tops of the frames from time to time. A guy I know simply made a small hole in his veil and puts a pipe through it.Also, An old guy around here dosen't wear a veil and smokes a cigar while working his hives. So, yes tobacco smoke works great. The Germans have a smoker especially designed to use tobacco smoke.
It turned out that there was a Coca Cola bottling plant within a quarter of a mile radius of his apiary. The bees were ingesting the Fanta orange concentrate syrup and bringing it back to their hives and storing it.
On the subject of smoking a pipe while working hives. I like to fill a short beat up chin hugger and puff away while inspecting hives. It's pretty handy to simply blow smoke down on the tops of the frames from time to time. A guy I know simply made a small hole in his veil and puts a pipe through it.Also, An old guy around here dosen't wear a veil and smokes a cigar while working his hives. So, yes tobacco smoke works great. The Germans have a smoker especially designed to use tobacco smoke.
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The beekeepers on my former orchard used smoke to calm the bees when working on the hives. The remnants looked like burlap, must have been soaked in something flammable.
Why don't you try the girls out on some burley, maybe Old Joe Krantz original or Amphora Burley, both quite pleasant. Some generally dislike burley; some can't taste it; and some really enjoy it, as do I. A good smoke if you are in group three. Smoke is used to calm bees, so maybe anything works? I had a late friend who kept bees and would deliver a sweet eulogy about discovering the tattered little remains of some of the workers who had used themselves up in their industrious work. He convinced me. Is it virtue, or just their nature? I'd say, a virtuous nature.
I'll take your advice and try some Burley. I have some solani aged burely flake. Hey docpierce, I watched a good YouTube video on skep beekeeping from a while ago where they were using those smokers. I wander if they were using pipe tobacco or if the smoker was just for blowing into and they used some conventional fuel like pinestraw or burlap. Seems like a great time to smoke as you have described while working your bees.
Other bee smoke fuel:
Pine needles.
Chemical free burlap cloth. (burlap from a local coffee roaster).
Cardboard- without the packing tape.
Cow patties.
Spent barley grain from brewing beer- dried.
Cedar chips.
Cotton duck canvas.
Corn cobs.
Wood pellets.
Tobacco stems.
rotten wood.
Alfalfa cubes.
Old blue jeans.
pine cones.
old egg cartons, corn cobs and junk mail.
Pine needles.
Chemical free burlap cloth. (burlap from a local coffee roaster).
Cardboard- without the packing tape.
Cow patties.
Spent barley grain from brewing beer- dried.
Cedar chips.
Cotton duck canvas.
Corn cobs.
Wood pellets.
Tobacco stems.
rotten wood.
Alfalfa cubes.
Old blue jeans.
pine cones.
old egg cartons, corn cobs and junk mail.
I'd suggest some of the Pease English blends... Maybe Maltese Falcon or Blackpoint... They have a touch of sweetness which may interest the bees. Spark Plug is wonderful. I'd also recommend the MacBaren HH Burley Flake if you want to go to burley blends. Like Mso, I also enjoy the Amphora Burley. The Solani is very good, too.
Bees aren't drinking urine, not exactly. They are probably going after the salt. Saw whole bunch of butterflies eating horse poop once. Was rather pretty, but the poop got in the way.
Davidoff has other English blend that's rather nice. It's called Royalty. It grows on you. Personally, I'm finding Ashton's Artisan's Blend to fit my taste rather well.
Davidoff has other English blend that's rather nice. It's called Royalty. It grows on you. Personally, I'm finding Ashton's Artisan's Blend to fit my taste rather well.
Interesting topic!
I have really no suggestions. However, being allergic to bees, ( not deathly, just swell up good) I've always been Leary of them. Just recently did more reading on them, and learned that they aren't out to get you.
We cut a pussy Willow tree down a few weeks ago, and it was just covered with little black and white bees. hundreds of them eating the little fluffs on it. In moving the branches and logs, I didn't get a single bee interested in me. We moved the whole huge tree, and I didn't get stung once. I just watched where I put my hands. Bees are cool, and I've always liked them.
If you get one to land on your pipe, take note of the blend and get a picture of it!!
I have really no suggestions. However, being allergic to bees, ( not deathly, just swell up good) I've always been Leary of them. Just recently did more reading on them, and learned that they aren't out to get you.
We cut a pussy Willow tree down a few weeks ago, and it was just covered with little black and white bees. hundreds of them eating the little fluffs on it. In moving the branches and logs, I didn't get a single bee interested in me. We moved the whole huge tree, and I didn't get stung once. I just watched where I put my hands. Bees are cool, and I've always liked them.
If you get one to land on your pipe, take note of the blend and get a picture of it!!
I found that Sweet Mystery X by Solani not only can ghost the heck out of a pipe, but is great according to bees. They sometimes followed me when I tried a tin of that one.
