In Praise of Propane Torches

Every year there is at least one new idea, or technique, or tool, that makes my beekeeping more efficient, or easier. This year, hands down, it’s a prosaic tool: a self-igniting propane torch.

Until recently, I’ve used strike-anywhere wood matches to light my smoker. They’re available everywhere, and cheap. Cheap is good because it often (usually?) required more than one match to get a smoker cooking well. Early on, I had tried both plastic BBQ lighter wands and disposable Bic lighters and found them unsatisfactory. And I disliked tossing out the spent plastic wands and lighters.

Then I started work here at Betterbee, where I frequently do quick mini-demos of in-hive techniques. Nothing was more embarrassing than fumbling around with my smoker, just when I wanted to be concentrating on what I was teaching a customer.

I admired my boss, Chris Cripps’, confident style when he was getting his smoker lit and simultaneously starting his teaching. He was using a propane torch, which seemed a bit intimidating to me. Then last spring when I did the Newsletter article on smoker maintenance, I borrowed his torch for the creosote burn-off pictures and it was a revelation.

Not only was it easy as pie to light, but it wasn’t a scary blow-torch, either. And man, oh man, does it light your fire!

Self-igniting propane torches (the top, business part) are readily available at hardware stores and on-line and will cost between $20-45. You will also need a small tank of propane fuel. These are available everywhere from hardware stores to convenience stores and cost only a few bucks apiece. I prefer a shorter, slightly fatter, fuel tank as it seems less tippy when attached to the torch part. I keep the torch and its attached tank stored upright in a plastic bucket with my other beekeeping tools. Be sure to read and follow the safety and installation instructions when attaching the torch to the tank.

I found that starting the burn on two levels, at the top and lower-down in the fuel pile in the smoker was especially effective in getting things going quickly.

As a bonus, you can also use the torch to occasionally burn-off creosote build-up on the smoker before it can interfere with the lid closing securely.

Despite lighting my smoker many more times than most beekeepers would in a season, I’m still on my first, 1-lb canister of propane, because I only need a few seconds’ blast to get the fuel burning smartly. My canister of propane is a disposable one, and it would both illegal and unsafe to refill it. However, I have since purchased a DOT-approved refillable cannister and the transfer equipment so that I can avoid using any more disposable containers.

To be sure, both matches and butane lighters will get your smoker lit. But a propane torch will do that faster and more effectively. And then you can concentrate on your bee work, with less frustration at the outset.