Hi Ryan, thanks for watching! I haven't had much luck with my initial 2 packages. I lost the queen in the 2nd colony as well, and will be trying to stop a laying worker situation before it gets out of hand. I've never used this method before so I'm a little nervous. Fingers crossed the install goes well and they accept the new queen and don't kill her.
Glad I'm not the only beekeeper struggling to keep the smoker lit. I lost it when you broke out the torch! 😂 What do you use for fuel? I've been using hamster bedding. Many recommend either pine needles or burlap. I don't have a lot of pine here in Texas, but I'll try the coffee shops for burlap.
I am terrible at keeping the smoker lit. I use pine straw mulch that I purchased from Home Depot, since I don't know anyone with long needle pines on their property. I would recommend it over hamster bedding or burlap. The sap from the needles will buildup & glue your smoker shut, but I clean it regularly with super clean degreaser (Purple Bottle) from walmart which takes the sap resin right off. Thanks for watching!
