SMOKE AND SMOKERS. 



397 



SMOKE and: SMOKERS. 



A quantity of old sacking, says Mr. Cogg- 

 sliall, will 1)6 sufficient for one season's use, 

 and the fuel gives a lasting smoke with- 

 out sparks. He further says that he can 



rule it would take too much time to hunt up 

 greasy waste in this way. A piece could be 

 found here and there, but generally not 

 enough to be of any great use. A supply can 

 be obtained at a printing estab- 

 lishment to last a whole season ; 

 and we always advise its use, 

 therefore, when it can be obtain- 

 ed. It gives a strong, i)ungent 

 smoke ; does not make a hot fire ; 

 is easily lighted ; will not go out, 

 even though the smoker be left 

 standing for four or five hours 

 at a time. 



Jf you use the fuel that suits 

 you best you are using the best 

 fuel in your locality. Like many 

 another important question, " lo- 

 cality" has a bearing in the case. 



FiG. 3.— A smoker house fur smokers, tools, veils, and fuel. The 

 fuel is kept in the lowtr part under the shelf. 



take a cold smoker, and in ten seconds have 

 all the smoke he requires, as the saltpeter 

 ignites instantly. 



When old sacking can not be obtained, 

 old carpets or old burlap can doubtless be 

 used. Even new burlap would not be ex- 

 pensive, although Mr. Coggshall says tlie 

 fabric should be partly rotted to give the 

 best results. He lays his old phosphate- 

 sacks out in the weather for about three 

 months, and then rolls them up. 



We have been using greasy waste in a 

 smoker with great success. It requires no 

 treatment with any chemical to make it 

 light easily, and it is almost impossible to 

 extinguish it after it is once lighted, even 

 though it be stamped in the mud. There is 

 no question but that this is perhaps the very 

 best smoker fuel, although in some places 

 it may be somewhat difficult to obtain. It 

 can usually be had for the asking at any 

 machine-shop or printing- shop, and it may 

 be picked up along railroads, although as a 



ABUSES OF A SMOKER. 



A good smoker should last a 

 number of seasons, but it will 

 \ ery quickly cease to be a good 

 implement if it is not well taken 

 care of. 



One of the most common abuses 

 of a smoker is to leave it out in 

 the rain. We have seen many 

 smokers left out in all kinds of 

 weather; and it is needless to 

 say that the bellows leather soon 

 becomes hard, and cracks, and 

 the fire-box gets rusty. A good 

 many bee-keepers keep their 

 smokers in an empty hive and 

 thus avoid the danger of a costly 

 fire. If the whole hive should burn, the 

 loss would not be so very great. 



A better plan than this would be to build 

 a small smoker-house similar to the one 

 shown. This need not be over five or six 

 feet high. There is a substantial shelf as 

 shown, on which smokers, hive-tools, veils, 

 etc., may be kept. It is a good plan to pro- 

 vide a piece of heavy sheet iron about half 

 an inch above the shelf for the smokers to 

 stand on, so that there will be no danger of 

 setting fire to any thing. The fuel is kept 

 below this shelf. There is room enough 

 usually to hold a supply for a whole season; 

 and when it is kept in this way it is always 

 dry and ready for use. We have such small 

 buildings at all our outyards, and consider 

 them almost indispensable. 



Another common abuse of the smoker is 

 to allow creosote to collect at the top until 

 the cap will not fit down over the fire-box. 

 In a new smoker with the flexible hinge 

 there is not apt to be so much trouble in this 



