Hey Bohemia Bees, so glad that you're interested in it. You can either sign up for the VIB club: technicallybeekeeping.activehosted.com/f/1 or message me at our contact us page: technicallybeekeeping.com/#contact and we'll talk.

Blind Squirrel, love the name, by the way ... Thank you! You'll be the first to know, my friend. 🤝

@Comment0815, I love this! It’s fantastic that using your traditional smoker helps you relax and that you enjoy the process of starting it. I’m sure your calm energy has a soothing effect on your bees too. 🧘 For some, the task of lighting and keeping the smoker going can be stressful. To me, smokers are simply tools to build a deeper connection with these amazing creatures. 🐝 Well done on mastering the traditional smoker. Respect, my friend!

Norman, absolutely, sign up for the VIB Insider's club to get information and engage in prototyping. technicallybeekeeping.activehosted.com/f/1 Would love to have you onboard to pick your 🧠.

SO far I have put a couple of drops of glue on a mason lid with 9 holes to glue on a paper towel. then put maybe 3 bits of ripped up paper towel and another clean sheet on top, then the mason collar so the paper is in contact with the lid . So far it soaks seeming nicely and does not drip at all. Will be putting it out in the robbing hive tomorrow

Norman, paper towel is interesting. We've been having a lot of success with swedish sponge. amzn.to/3ZFdrL7

Thanks, Ravi!

Thanks, MolotovEOD!

🤣 I wish, Christophe. There's much easier ways to make money, my friend. 💰 Sounds like this isn't the product for you, and I completely respect that.

Hey Jeff, I'll try to keep the costs down as much as I can. If it were aluminum, would you pay more for it, or just stick with rubberized plastic?

Thanks so much, Maggie! I'll keep working on it. 🔧

Thanks, Qwer! ❤️

The entrance flaps closed, but I agree that I would tape it shut with painter's tape. I use mesh transport bags (see below), if I find anything questionable. I don't with the Pro Nuc Plastic boxes as I find them to be very secure. I didn't catch a swarm with this box this year. Full disclosure, though, I put it in an untested location that was likely a poor location. Great point about the entrance, C, I think that's something that they should consider redesigning. amzn.to/4gD6uR8

Thank you, Seth, for joining the VIB Club. Your expertise in AI has the potential to transform our VIB community. 🦾

Mark, replacing the sponge after every couple of uses is a good idea. The sponges that I used in the video are disposable cellulose sponge that come in a pack of 50 for $8. Regarding the molding, the VIB club has been testing with Swedish sponge as an alternative to cellulose sponge. Swedish sponge has antibacterial properties and is quick drying. My personal fall feed is a mix of Honey-B-Healthy, pollen substitute, Amino-B and sugar syrup. I agree, that I originally assumed that I'd have all of the pollen at the top of the sponge, and while there is some, most of it does seem to transfer through the sponge.

Thanks, Squid. I came a similar conclusion with the video below about pin holing lids. I have some new research on traction that I've been doing, currently researching the most recent results tonight. So much to figure out still. Stay tuned. kzbin.info/www/bejne/foTSq2Wan82Wbqc

Nick, they're reacting to the smoke smell of the vapor. I'm still perfecting the smell, it will take a lot of experiementation. If you have contacts, pleas hook me up with the sharks. 🦈

Thanks, Adam! I hope that you subscribe to the channel and the VIB club so that you can part of our journey. I promise you that it will 🐝 an adventure.

Lol, Ian. It's an observation hive. I often take a frame of bees out of a hive in my bee yard and observe them for a day or two. It helps me check for pests and diseases and to learn more about what's going on. I then return them to their original colony.

Thanks Danny! I appreciate the feedback. Keep watching the channel for more updates.

Charley, I love it and will be using that idea in the future. I agree, we're just at the beginning of the journey, but it's going to 🐝 a blast, my friend!

Hey Kennith, welcome, 👋 I appreciate you checking out the channel and hope that you become part of our community.

Lol, yes traditional smokers are easy to learn, but difficult to master. It's why I believe that the electric smoker could help so many to spend more time with their bees and less time playing with their smokers. I originally started with the gadgets being part of the smoker and then realized that it would make the cost much more and the majority of people would not want to start with them. So I'm thinking about an optional add-on in time. The first smokers will be 100% about being the best smoking experience possible without any extra gadgets. Still a lot of R&D to do, but subscribe and become part to the VIB club to stay tuned.

Wow! All the way from Scotland! We have close friends outside of Glasgow, what an amazing place! It has taken me 20 years, but I can understand a little Glaswegian. Lavender oil is a great idea. And makes for a nice smell as well. Regarding left handers, yes I started out the design with the air vent on the right side, and moved it to the back to allow the magnet to connect on either side for either hand. That is important to me, so I have you covered. Regarding Lazy-BEE Smoker, lol, love it.

​​@@TechnicallyBeekeeping Hi. . . Lavender Essential Oil might work (!?). . . Not sure (?) Tip : My suggestion was actually the Plant : Dried Flower Heads and waste Stems etc. . . Bees love Lavender Flowers all through Summer. Come Autumn (Fall) all that Dried Matter needs trimming off, to aid better Flowering for next Season. I trim and deadhead all that Debris, dry it out. Keep the Lavender Flowers for use in the Home etc. Or Gift it away. Those Dried Stalks used to be 'thrown out'. But hey, why not use that too ! So I do this. . . I make loads of Smoker Fuel 'Burner Bundles' using spent Plant & Foilage material. (Do measure your Smoker Chambers Width, and make these Bundles a little smaller !) Or you might find they didn't fit great. Been there done that. . . Oops ! 🤭 Getting a Garden through Autumn (Fall) before Winter provides : Snipped Stalks, Stems and Sticks, masses of Leaves. All literally wasted. Smoking stuff !?! Getting the Bees and Hives healthy and ready for our long Scottish Winters also means that I plenty of old Bees Wax from Frame Exchange Outs. (Old Combs / Wax Melting and the resulting 'Slum Gum' left) must have a use too, surely ? I had an idea. Make Smoker Fuel into easily used Burner 'Bundles. Waste not, want not. I can always find 'Tattie Sacks' somewhere near by (live in a Rural Area of Scotland where Potatoes get grown.) This Hessian (Burlap) with some Garden Twine: and a bit of 'Cleaning Up' through some pruning, deadheading etc. . . Is ample Material for making decent 'Smoker Fuel' Burner Bundles. Also helps in that we have a Wood Burner Stove on so an old Stove Pot with water, an inner Container (eg an Ex large Tomatoe Tin.) Results in Dipping Small Tied Up Bundles (of Hessian Wrapped Plant Material) even using a bit of those plentiful Lavender Stalks, uses up Debris. For a Good Beekeeping cause ! Or at least I think it might make my Bee Smoker light more easily ! Burn longer, right ! Or at least Calm the Bees and Beekeeper alike. What we do for our Bees. . . 😏 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 Happy Beekeeping 2024 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 Family lived for a Year many decades ago in a place called Aix en Provence, in the South of France. Lavender growing far & wide ! And the Honey was amazing too. . . Just about remembering it ! So trying to Grow more for my Bees. Whether these Plants will survive the Winter will have to be seen. An odd one does. (Take lots of Cuttings off it come Spring, and grow more to replace the Frosted ones !) All I know is that an 'Old Timers', well used Copper Bee Smoker, I had bought, a few Years back (from a Garage Sale, a Retiring Beek, now deceased,) Is well loved and just about works. And sometimes just about 'stays alight.' Keep Calm and Carry on. . . 🤭

@@ME_MeAndMyBees great idea with the smoker bundles. Lol, what we do for our bees, indeed! Regarding the lavendar fields, that is a bucket list item for me is to go to a place with lavendar fields in full bloom. The way that I imagine it is heavenly! 🐝Calm and Carry on, as well, my friend.

​@@TechnicallyBeekeeping Thank You. . . 😏 More Bee Gear Invention "Ideas" please. . . They are are 'Buzzing' full of good suggestions ! Just watched the 'Mason Jar Lid' ways and means. Fabby ! More used Stateside, (than here in the UK, tend to reuse naff Supermarket Jam (Jelly) Jars. Or ones with that nice expensive Italian Tomatoes Sauces in them. 😉 Don't think the Dinky (Tiny) Regional Airport in FLA would allow me to Buy up all WinnDixies 'Mason Jars' and bring them Home across the Pond, after seeing Family. Think (K.W) has enough 'Crazy Season' Tourists already. . . 🙃 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 Happy Beekeeping 2024 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 Wow : we had Trmps in the 20C's (mid 70F's) Yesterday ! After an awful x4 Month Wet (Icky) Summer : only a good Day here and there. Do an odd Hive Inspection & run Indoors after another deluge. . . 🌧 The "Girls" 🐝 are making up for it now : Collecting in lovely 'Heather Honey' off the nearby Moorlands by me. Never knew decades ago, my Locality was a 'Mecca' for Honey Crops. Local Bee Association (Club) has tales of all sorts with Folks moving Bees on Trailers, Vans, even Back Seats of Cars ! Whacky (Bee) Races. On your Marks, get Set, Smoke ! 🤣

Hey Austin, I'm using a mix of off the shelf parts and custom ones. We're still in the early prototyping phase, but regarding safety we're using overheating detection that safely turns off the circuits and we stay within the recommended wattage. Thanks for the questions.

​@@TechnicallyBeekeepingMay I suggest to work on adapting a bee smoker with an electrode inside to auto light and a fan blower so you don't have to pump a bellows, use a Milwaukee M12 battery NMhi. Reinventing the wheel from scratch is not practical when the early smoker chamber would serve well, it may be hard to get away from bio fuels. One concern is that the creosote in the not fully combusted bio fuels causes cancer, it's a major concern for health to try and improve it IMO, it would require heaps of scientific testing in laboratory conditions, would cost a lot but worth every cent if it can bring a better product to market. I doubt you'll get people to spend more than 100-150 $ though so it has to be affordable again IMO.

@@livingadamman7994 Regarding creosote, I'll avoid using that like the plague, definitely a toxic substance. You read my mind on the M12 battery, the form factor and weight should be perfect.

Thanks, Fred!

Curtis, They smelled like smoke, right? I believe that the inventor of it's name was Steward Taylor. I'm currently reading his patent when I saw your comment. Ha! His main ingredient is hardwood tar oils. As he says in the patent, smoke-odor simulating components are very effective. Thank you for sharing your extensive beekeeping experience with us; it's great to have someone with such a rich history to remind us of all the brilliant inventors and their inventions. patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/ae/9d/5f/7726a4db2bdc20/US2900300.pdf

Thanks, Johnkels! Keep tuned in (and Hands on). 😉

Pete, actually most of our VIB testers are using hardware cloth. It was a challenge at first, but we've figured out some clever workarounds. The sponge helps in that it peaks though the hardware cloth. That said, I suspect that hardware cloth gives the bees plenty of traction as you say, not leaking issues, but definitely traction issues. I will likely do a video on this as well. Thanks for the idea!

Wow! Thanks, Gaétan. Do you mind if I ask, do you beekeep in France or somewhere in Europe? I appreciate the kind words.

Thanks, Pete! I completely agree. I have most of my colonies on a farm but I have one at home for pollination. Getting a smoker running and dealing with the cool down period is a lot of overhead for one hive inspection or if you just want to get in and out. Thanks for mentoring these folks, we don't have enough 20 year beekeepers that are interested in helping newbeeks to be successful. 🙏

Hey Doug, sorry to hear that it doesn't resonate with you. I respect that you like the traditional smoker. All the best.

Thanks for feedback, Bidzina.

Benjamin, that's an aspect of this that I've been learning as I go along. Being from Chicago, we don't have those dangerous dry seasons. Building this device could have a positive affect on the environment and sustainability. I hope that you make the journey with us.

Welcome, Rick. That is awesome, I will 100% accept your help.

Brian, I started out by hot gluing the sponges to the lids. I found that with 3D printed materials, the hot glue often cracked the lids. We are now using no glue at all and it works fine. I have the VIB club attaching it under the ring which is enough to keep the sponge in place. Thanks for signing up, I really appreciate it!

@TechnicallyBeekeeping Thanks! I use one-piece lids right now, but I can get some 2-piece lids.

@@brianhoffman500 Sounds good. I do a lot of canning, so that's how I got into using the two-piece lids.

Jim, Great minds think alike. Consider signing up for the VIB group and become an Insider and help us develop this. I would love to work together on the best smoker that the world has ever seen. technicallybeekeeping.activehosted.com/f/1

Random Fandom, I just bought pure pine needle oil to see how the bees react by adding it to my current mixtures.

@@TechnicallyBeekeeping I used to work as an apiarist in Florida. We had billions. They'd drink 350gal of syrup a week easy.

@@TechnicallyBeekeeping your biggest issue is hopper size, and smoke temp. Too hot, and you'll cook off some bees 🐝, and piss off the hive. Cold smoke is better. I used to smoke 🚬 in my hood. It lead to holes 🕳 😳 😑

@@RandomsFandom Lol, I've had holes in veil before, it's not a fun time. Three stings to face.

Thanks, Danny!

Matthew, great question. You are correct, that in the video I'm using 1:1 with pollen substitute and and Honey-B-Healthy supplements. In the VIB beta testings we're trying everything from 2:1 sugar water to 1:5. For a traditional jar feeder, I believe that the question of hole size depends on what you're feeding as the viscosities can vary widely. We're working on a crazy new design that may break that dependency, however. Stay tuned for more on that. Thanks for the question!

Rick, Thanks for watching. I really appreciate Fred's shout-out, it was a happy surprise. I hope that you subscribe and become part of our community as well. 🤝

Phil, thanks for the comment. It looks like I'll need to label it as "Therapeutic" either for the bees or the beekeeper. 🩹 My most recent designs would be more comparable to aromatherapy vaporization machines than a vape mod, so I'm hopeful we can help Australian beekeepers. With the bee smoker regulations and danger of fire, Australians need it the most in my opinion. Please keep us updated on the ban.

That might be a way around it, Apisolis seems to have dodged the ban... (mind you, with the size and shape of the Apisolis device it isn't exactly something people would want to use for vaping🤣)

🤣 I would love to see the video of people vaping with an Apisolis, that would be hilarious. That said, I've done stupider things as a teenager. 😉

@@TechnicallyBeekeeping 😆

AnimeNiac, the most recent that we've been using is Swedish sponge (rather than Cellulose sponge, like I show in the video). I like the idea of Scotchbrite pads. Do you know if they trap small hive beetle like Swifer dryer sheets do? I've been thinking of replacing the sponge with a material similar to the dryer sheets to feed the bees and also catch small hive beetle.

@@TechnicallyBeekeeping I doubt they'd entangle SHBs like the more fibrous materials can; but can't claim to know for certain. I was thinking they could be easy for the bees to walk on, impervious to rot, and (maybe?) highly resistant to clogging by syrup drying?

@@animeniac978 Interesting point on the impervious to rot. We'll need to try it out. Thanks for the idea, it's incredible to have so much brain power on this project. 🧠

@@TechnicallyBeekeeping I expect that if it were epoxied to (roughed up) plastic jar lids, the whole assembly would be dishwasher safe.

@@animeniac978 that's my goal is to make the lids dishwasher safe. The sponges will need to be discarded in time, but that's pretty common with sponges, they are disposable items.

Thanks Cathy! Yes, it means a lot to have the recognition of a master beekeeper the caliper of Frederick Dunn.

Thanks, Butteworks! Good point about the 4K camera. The smart device will be further down the line and it seems to be the least popular of the features. Thanks for the feedback and keep it coming.

I'm glad that you like it. 👏 I'm still deep in the prototoyping phase. I'm going to start a kickstarter in January and I have a Very Important Beekeeper Club that gets early updates. I suggest subscribing to this channel and signing up for the VIB Club at: technicallybeekeeping.activehosted.com/f/1 I'm excited to build this device for the community.

Lol Kelvin, thank you for the laugh my friend! 💸

Danny, that'll be a cool time. I'm still waiting for metal 3D printers to come down to a reasonable price, that will be a game changer. I'm looking at doing Silicone and making it dish washer safe.

George, yes, I've been concerned about the same thing. Luckily it doesn't break the vacuum. I've redesigned the sponge mechanism in a crazy way. I hope to share it on the KZbin channel soon. Thanks for the suggestion, keep them coming.

Thanks, Caz!

@@TechnicallyBeekeeping 2nd year beekeeper...12 hives and growing

Caz, way to go, my friend! That is truly amazing. My first year, I had 6 colonies, my second I had 2. Don't ask, it's still too painful. 🐝😭

@TechnicallyBeekeeping I was fortunate to have a mentor for a year.. As you know, there is so much to learn. I live in Southwest Florida, so winter is very mild here. Our last flow is Oct/Nov we have several throughout the year.. I feed my bees probiotics and red cell during the winter months to keep them fat and healthy. I feel this has prevented me from losing colonies.. I'm looking forward to future videos..

Caz, a good mentor can make all the difference. I have a condo in Venice, FL. I hope to be down there in Dec/Jan to get away from Chicago winters. 🥶

Lol, always do what Uncle Fred says, he'll never steer you wrong. Thanks for taking the journey with us!

IceBug, Kein Problem. Ich werde sicherstellen, dass es nach Europa kommt, sobald es produktionsbereit ist. Vielen Dank für Ihren Kommentar!