Question about bees and smoke?

Question

what is it about smoke that makes bees docile. does it have to be a certain kind of smoke . for example does it have to be smoke from say wood . or will any kind of smoke have an effect

Answer 1

i found two theories on this...the first being that the smoke actually kills parasites (mites) on the bees and it is like a bath for them....supposedly the beekeeper is to put tobacco leaves in the smoker because nicotine kills those parasites but they have to be careful because the nicotine can also kill the bees....the second is that when the bees detect the smoke the will gorge themselves on the honey (trying to preserve what is theirs) and then wait to see if the hive is in danger of destruction....the second theory has pretty much been rebuffed

Answer 2

Hi there,

smoke disorients bees, altering their ability to see clearly and therefore fly.

When they are smoked up, bees prefer to remain quietly by their hive, and this is why they appear docile.

The smoke can come from any source. Like all beekeepers in my

area, I do not use wood at all, but old pieces of fabric, like blue jeans , and it works fine. However, it is a nice touch to add a few leaves or sprigs of soothing herbs such as marshmallow and meadowsweet or lavender to the fabric while this is burning, as the perfumes soothes the bees and makes them definitely less aggressive.  

Bees are smoked up when a beekeeper needs access to the hive. The bees' instinct is to protect their home, their babies and their queen, Understandably, they do not like at all human intrusion and they would fly angrily to your face, hands and body if you did not smoke them.

Allowing a few puffs of smoke to disorient them for a very short time is totally innocuous and lets the beekeeper carry out necessary work, with a minimum of disturbance to those wonderful creatures.