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peter genders

New Bee
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Sep 23, 2011
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Location
swansea
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I am able to source mixed larch and oak dust and shavings both of which are untreated has anyone had bad bee vibes from this mix or positive results thanks for your time.
 
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Larch is a resin tree and generates lots of tar and clues the smoker.
I have tried rotten larch and it does not burn by itself.

I use rotten birch and it is best here. Stuffs which make tar, they are a real nuisance. You have there lots of leave trees. Try which burn well. Dry rotten wood..
 
Dont have too much oak in the mix... and make sure it is thoroughly dry.

any particular reason for this? I find it burns too quickly when dry. I leave my wood shavings outside so they are damp and last longer. only been using them for a couple of weeks though...
 
I'm using rotten oak at the moment, I haven't found anything unusual about it
 
I use a lot of sweet briar and apple prunings which I shred and then dry off in the green house, smells nice too.
Bram
 
I use rotten oak all the time.

Nothing to report.
 
I use a good handful of hardwood shavings from a sharp bench saw to light my smoker and then add a mix of very dry pine needles, rotted wood, bay leaves and some larger chippings that I gathered up when trees were pruned and chipped beneath power lines on our property. I do get some tar from this mix but since I don't use much smoke during inspections (usually a water mister is all I use), the tar isn't an issue for me.
 
A quick blast inside with a blowlamp soon clears all the tar away anyway

Surely not. It is drilling along out surface too.
And strong tar condensates onto honey combs and gives shimney aroma to the honey.

Be carefull what you burn in your incinerator.
 
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