Bee Bellows for smoking bees

I found a feral bee colony and would like to harvest some honey and wax, and I would like to fashion a bellows smoker to use to calm them. I keep plenty of dry dead wood (punk) on hand for smoking buckskin and I'm sure this would work in a suitable container with a bellows attached and a few hot coals in the bottom.

I'm open to suggestions from anyone that works with tin or brass on making one of these bellows from "everyday materials" and I'm quite handy and have a few ideas in mind already, but maybe someone has already done something similar and could save me a lot of research and trial-and-error. Also I wanted this information to be available to those on the forum who also might be interested without having to dig through a million-gazillion pages on google.

Large coffee can
metal funnel type lid (I gotta make this part)
leather for bellows
1/4" or 5/16" wood for front and back of bellows
(I gotta make the bellows too)
connecting tube

I just need to know how to work it all into the various components and put it all together. I dont have an anvil or forge or any of the typical metalworking stuff (remember I do most of my stuff with rocks lol) so I'm gonna have to make due with whatever junk I can find laying around and would rather not have to spend time making such things as a forge that I'll hardly ever use. I can use my dad's torch and I know how to solder things together (we call it brazing) and weld. I don't have much money, but I have all the time the Lord will allow me and a strong back to work with.

All help and advice is VERY MUCH appreciated.
thanks gang

Can you get your hands on an old metal watering can?

Check this out! Here's one going for ....

$5.50: http://cgi.ebay.com/bee-smoker-woodm...:B:SRCH:US:101

$9.98 (BRAND NEW!): http://cgi.ebay.com/UNUSED-DAHANT-TI...:B:SRCH:US:101

$10.00: http://cgi.ebay.com/A-I-Root-Vintage...:B:SRCH:US:101

$11.11: http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Bee-hive...:B:SRCH:US:101

HERE'S THE GENERAL WEBSITE: http://www.cthreepo.com/bees/beesales.shtml

AND HERE"S SOME GOOD INFORMATION: http://books.google.com/books?id=P5x...ellows&f=false

Dang....you guys smoke bees???

Oh, wait...you mean...nevermind.:blushing:

I probably can find one at my great grandads old place and sometimes I go to jobs that have old junk stuff layin around. maybe I can get one this week sometime and go from there. I suppose I would need some vent holes in it and a lid on top, then just attach my bellows.
Should it be attached nearer the top or more in the middle of the can?

thanks for the links Ken that gives me some good ideas what I'm working towards.

I doubt the indigenous folks used a bellows.

Easiest thing is a couple of 1X12" boards, cheap hinge and some oilcloth type junk to go around it, metal cone to fit in hole drilled in 2" end piece like a rolled up beer can. Light rag, pump away and if those bees happen to be the wild black ones, not the yellow type the only thing is a couple of rocks, place bee one one, strike bee with the other being careful to keep fingers out of the way.

that sounds brilliant Coot! smashing a bee to use it's natural pheremone to attract the others toward it...

very clever. thanks

I have surplus deer leather that I bark tanned from a roadkill back in spring. rather than oilcloth I have this stuff for free. Also have some hide glue to use to seal it up. beer cans i pick up all the time when cleaning along wmas and such so thats free too.. sounds like I can make one pretty easy with other peoples junk.
these are all great ideas guys thanks a million!

got a job today at a house that was built .. i dunno, a long time ago.. might get to look around there a little :D

About attracting bees with pheromones - It's the queen bee's pheromones that attract bees. You can buy artificial pheromones and make your own hive to attract feral bees. If, however they are in an established colony and tending to the brood, it is very difficult to "attract" them away. While I was separating the wax and honey in my back yard the other day (about 60 miles from where it originated) I had a lot of curious honey bee visitors. They knew something was not right, but couldn't figure it out.

And for God's sake don't spill any on you.....just sayin'.

YCC - I was thinking about your home made bellows. Maybe one of those little hand or foot pumps for blowing up exercise balls.

I might have one of those laying around from when I was a kid.. I'll have to go look in the old barn hehe.

didn't find anything usable around the house I worked on today, but apparently she knows a LOT about wildflowers. I took some pics of some stuff that looks like the same stuff I been finding out in the open, and when I looked it up in my books most everything she had growing was either edible or medicinal. just thought i'd share that ;)
she wouldn't let me have her watering can lol. but we did have a nice conversation about the flowers :D

This is the type I was thinking about. I think they're about $2 or $3.

http://www.made-in-china.com/image/2...mp-GGB-08-.jpg

ok. here's what I got.
metal coffee can, big kind
bicycle tire foot pump
26 guage galvanized flashing
cabinet door handle

rivet handle to coffee can
make attachment for pump hose to connect to can (should it go closer to the top or bottom?)
make top to attach to can, like a funnel. using the coffee can cooker thread to shape the metal parts.

sorry for the slow uptake on this, got a lot of hides going on the last 2 weeks. might get to go back to the bee colony this weekend and I'm gonna try to get the smoker made tonight or saturday.
at some point the fall "honey flow" slows to a crawl and the bees begin using their stockpile. When would we reach this point? a certain temperature? a certain month/day? or just when we dont see many flowers anymore? I dont want to take the bees winter stores or much of the colony could die before winter is over, and it would be really nice if they didn't move away from where they are now. Just trying to keep the balance.

YCC - do you want me to take pictures of the smoker I have? It may give you a few ideas.

Well, whether you want it or not -Here are a few pictures of my smoker – maybe it will give you an idea when you are building one. This one is 4 inches in diameter and 10 inches high. It is made from stainless, and has a guard around the outside to help prevent burning things.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/i...uipment001.jpg

The hook on the front is for hanging it when you are not using it. Notice the gap between the bellows and the inlet to the smoke chamber. There is another pic that shows that detail a bit closer.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/i...uipment003.jpg

Hinged lid.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/i...uipment004.jpg

Air inlet at the bottom of the chamber.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/i...uipment005.jpg

Small platform - air comes in below it, smoldering fuel on top.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/i...uipment006.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/i...uipment007.jpg

Closer look at bellows and chamber air intake.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/i...uipment008.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/i...uipment009.jpg

Great pics crash! thanks a million bud! Those are the details I was needing precisely. I wound up going hunting yesterday, then halloween party last night so I'm just now getting back around to projects stuff.
I know you bought this one and mine won't be nearly as shiny, but these are the things I needed to know.
excellent post and pics. Thanks again!

got the can with a hole for breather. made lid and spout for it. made baffle for the bottom to keep the coals up a bit. gotta attach some sort of pump and handle, and I think it'll be good to go.
I tried it like it was with some red cedar punk wood and it smoked very well. if you puff air into the inlet, it puffs smoke out the top. I think it will work well.
power supply went out on my pc so i'm using the kids. will get the pic up soon tho. nothing really pretty, so set the bar low for me lol.
thanks guys.
oh yeah.. about that fall honey flow. I dont wanna mess up the bees winter stores, so whats the latest I should harvest honey? I was gonna go today, but I dont think I'll get to until later in the week.

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