New Bee Hive Smoker Stainless Steel w/Heat Shield Beekeeping Equipment

Great product

Good

Awesome

Works smoothly Bellows pumps nicely.

Good quality. Lid was a little stiff until it broken in. Easy to use and smokes good.

If you get this smoker you're accepting that the metal will be thin and the whole thing won't feel like high quality. That said, at this price point it's very well constructed and works great.I was looking for a smoker because we have a bee problem in our roof and I'd read that if you smoke them over time, it'll trigger a natural reaction for them to eat up their store of honey in preparation for flight (smoke = possibility of fire in nature) and file out. Not wanting to kill the bees we tried to smoke them out. I bought some smoker chips before switching to pine needles that were in my backyard. The smoker was easy to setup and the hook was really handy. The tin gets discoloured immediately from first use, but I imagine it'll happen to all smokers. Based on how thin the metal felt, I was worried that the flame would burn through the metal, but this smoker lasted being nearly continuously lit for 5 straight daylight days now and it's staying together fine with no signs of the metal being burned through (smoker was refilled about every 20 mins.) Be careful when using this smoker because it gets VERY hot. Even with padded bee gloves on it was sometimes too hot to touch. I ended up switching to oven mitts. The other thing to keep in mind is that flames can shoot out of the bottom port.While I was unfortunately unable to persuade the bees to bail, the part about a lot of smoke getting them to eat up their stores was true. When we finally opened up the roof after smoking the bees for 4 days the combs were very clean and didn't appear to have any honey in them. But the bees were still around in copious quantities. Overall, for my purposes this smoker was perfect and at a great price point, but if I were to keep a smoker for long term use (for example if I was a bee keeper) I'd probably opt to pay a little more to get a sturdier feeling smoker with thicker feeling metal.

We're just getting into beekeeping, and all the experts say, you need a smoker like this. I've used it a few times, and it keeps my girls calm, or at least, preoccupied, while I check out their hive. It is well made, and a complicated device for the price. I think it's good value. It's easy to get a cool smoke with this. I just use a couple of wadded pieces of paper, which I light, then drop in a handful or two of dry straw or pine needles, When they're burning, I add a half-handful of fireplace wood pellets. We have fireplaces that burn them. I use the bellows with slow puffs to get these glowing, and I have more than enough smoke to go for the 30 - 40 minutes I need. By the way, you can buy small bags of the same wood pellets from some bee supply companies for about $20 each -- but why, when a 40 lb bag at your local home- or hardware- store is about $5?? That will last you for years!Some reviewers said the bottom of the smoker got so hot it could start a grass fire when set down near the hive. To combat this, I studied my new smoker and saw a metal disc with holes in the bottom. This keeps the fire up a little, but not enough. There are three stamped (cut) "legs" in it, almost flat, so I bent those down to give me more like an inch of airspace from the bottom of the can. Works great! The whole thing still gets hot, but not enough to start fires, I hope. I put a brick near the hive to give me a safe place to park it while I do other things.It's the bees-knees -- Recommended!

As a 4th session beekeeper, I can confidently say this smoker works great, even better than some of the name brands out there. It's reliable and gets the job done efficiently. To get the best results, make sure you use high-quality pellets or cotton. One thing to note is that I wish the top of the can was a bit more heat-resistant. I burnt myself on the lid the first time I used it, which was a bit of a surprise. My older smoker had a heat-resistant pad on the top, allowing you to open the lid without getting burnt. Despite this minor inconvenience, this smoker performs exceptionally well and has become a crucial part of my beekeeping toolkit. It's a solid investment for any beekeeper looking for a dependable and effective smoker.