Smokers - Imker Pfeife style smoker

Here I give you an up close view of my traditional style old world German bee smoker called an "Imker Pfeife, and show how to light and use it.

[@beekygeek7873]

I just added one of these German pipe smokers to my collection and had no clue how they worked. Thank you for making a video about it, fellow beek. :)

[@Sqeptick]

Well done. Interesting piece of gear.

[@guntertv304]

tobacco isnt needed when working with bees. The smoke is only there to make the bees think there is a fire. Their natural instinct then is to fill their honey bladder up, if there were a need to evacuate the hive. Once their honey bladder is filled the bees tend to calm down and they also move closer to the middle of the hive. This can be done cheaply with any kind of material which has a neutral smoke. The word neutral is important here. You can pick up white rotten wood from a forrest and let it dry for a few days. If this isn't available I would suggest common hemp used for hampster cages. Tobacco tends to get the bees into a state of fatigue and although it isn't proven that it has long lasting effects, it weakens the natural defense of the bees for an amount of time, which may be especially bad for small or young hives. I myself used rotten wood for a long time, but this time around i couldn't find enough at the begining of the year so i bought a larg bad of hemp which I am quite happy with, especially because of the thick smoke. Greatings from Germany

[@TheBeardedBee]

I only use tobacco in mine to show as an example of the traditional way they were used. I literally only use mine a few times a year when I don't want to light a whole smoker for no reason. Putting in a few compressed, food grade wood pellets is what I like to do.

[@MM-yl9gn]

Man! Where do we get this? Obviously will have to innovate a solution but it really makes you wonder if bees, in the way they are inherently subdued by smoke (according to forest fire instinct) have actually adapted to thousands of years of interaction with man. Almost like the hive naturally knows that man isn't there to harm but to protect, otherwise, smoke would naturally cause flight (logically). I also wonder if skep beekeeping would also be inherent being that for thousands of years, man kept hives in this fashion. Possibly less mites and contamination and more natural synthesis of production and progeny. Super excited for skep keeping!! Now, to repurpose camp stove and pipe!

[@pedroalmendros7643]

Very good exposition. I´ll buy it . I dont know why germans dont create a similar video

[@danielweston9188]

There are two parts - the other part is a flap valve mouth tube that sews into your veil . Then you hold this up to the valve and can blow while protected. The first ones used a regular pipe stem and a small reinforced slot in the veil. You can also cheat and smoke a cig with the valve - (burning small holes in everything)

[@FeralHomestead]

Where did you get it I need it!!!!! I have been trying so hard

[@sonofthunder.]

cool i just found got one,how much did it cost

[@jiggyfun807]

thank you, I've been wondering about these. is there an alternative to tobacco, I'm an ex smoker and avoid tobacco, cause it's so tempting to me

[@TheBeardedBee]

I use smoker pellets (like for smoking food) in my regular smoker. You might try using just a thin layer of those and see how it goes. I've planned on doing that with mine, but haven't gotten around to it yet. you will have to light it with a torch and get the pellets really hot to get them going, buy it should smolder and cool down after a bit. Densely packed pine needles might be another alternative, but I'm not sure if they would burn too fast or not without experimenting.

[@jleereaves]

I’ve used jute twine before.

[@Moostery]

How does it work? Does the air inlet tube extend past the opening to the fuel chamber?

[@TheBeardedBee]

Moose in the video you will see me unscrew the fuel chamber from the top and tube assembly. The lid separates from square looking part (chamber with a one way ball valve) by a simple press fit design. The top essentially has a tube built into it that has a smaller open portion facing the fuel chamber. Blowing through the tube creates enough draw to pull the air and smoke through the tube and out the tip.

[@DanBradyeah]

can you give me the contact who is selling this in the US of the importer?

[@TheBeardedBee]

The guy I bought mine from does not bring bee supply in from Germany anymore.

[@jleereaves]

You can sometimes find new ones for sale on eBay listed as Beekeepers Whistle.

[@c-b.s.7624]

If you googlesearch for the term Imkerpfeife Primus you can find tons of ads from German sellers who usually do speak English and might ship it to your location.

[@user-tl3gi8ko2k]

Ганакур штоле? У нас таких из подъезда менты забирают...