Beehive smokers douse bees with smoke to calm them and make them less likely to sting while honey is extracted from beehives. They were invented in the mid nineteenth century, prior to which bees were killed in order to extract their honey. The invention of the bee smoker was an important innovation in the history of apiary. The Wodonga Historical Society beehive smoker appears to be of the same design as the patented Woodman’s Bingham Bee Smoker, produced from 1878 by T. F. Binghan of Albronia, Michigan. The Wodonga Historical Society beehive smoker is an important artefact connected to local history, and the history of apiary in Wodonga. Beekeeping was a popular pastime in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and apiaries were subject to regulation by the Wodonga Shire Council. At a 1914 meeting of the council, for instance, a by-law governing beekeeping in Wodonga was enacted after Mrs Smyth complained that Mr Bassett’s bees were swarming the watering holes in her paddocks and preventing livestock from drinking. There were areas within the Wodonga township where apiaries were prohibited, and Mr Bassett’s bees had fallen foul of the law. A canvas, wood and metal beesmoker from the early twentieth century. apiary, bees, beekeeping, honey, apiarists, wodonga, council, wodonga council, wodonga shire council, rural, livestock

Many farming families in the district kept bees as a source of honey for home consumption. This item was made for use on the family farm. Most of the equipment used in the local industry was homemade.During the early to mid 20th century bee keeping was a significant rural industry in Dunkeld and surrounding districts. It is believed that there were nearly twenty apiarists operating in the area. Honey in large quantities was railed to Melbourne for sale.Homemade bee smoker consisting of a copper cylindrical firebox and rectangular bellows constructed of wood and leather. Components are assembled with rivets, scrap wire, sheet metal, nuts and bolts and nails.

Book

Old Brown Book, non original spineSlight tear on bottom right corner cover

Old Publication, Faded Blue Cover, non original spine

Hard Back Book - Black with gold Bee on the front

Tan Coloured Instruction Catalogue

Small field guide - Orange cover with white writing & black tree - dark sepia

Dark Brown small book with gold writing on the cover

Soft Cover Book with drawing of a beekeeper & beehive on the front

Soft Cover Book with mid green cover 255 pages

Small Hard cover book, mustard coloured plain cover. 112 pages, copy number 698 of 850 Reprinted 1976

Soft Cover Book with white cover with bee drawings on front, 192 pages

A4 Article, yellow cover, stapled & contacted L H Braybrook - senior apiary inspector, Geelong R D Goodman, agricultural officer, Ferntree Gully

A4 Article typed, yellow cover stapled & covered with contact

A4 Article Green contacted cover

A4 size hard cover book, with brown cover & gold writing - 101 pages

Foolscap size publication with tan coloured soft cover

Soft light aqua soft cover book with black writing, 411 pages

Small apricot coloured soft covered book with pictures on the front, 96 pages

Small dark green coloured hard covered book with gold & green writing, 366 pages

A medium thickness A5 soft cover book, Yellowy orange coloured cover with black writing & a black & white picture of a Queen bee & workers on honeycomb. 344 pages

Tan coloured small hard covered book with a coloured honeycomb pattern (greens, blue & white) on the front. Small black & white photos of the authors & a blurb about them on the back. 310 pages

Old small hard covered book. Looks like it is covered with a faded cloth. Hard to read name of book on spine.126 pages

A5 size hardback book with a dark cream cover. 158 pages plus folded diagrams at the back

A5 sized hardcover book. Red book under a cream coloured cover with black writing & a tree drawing. 453 pages

A5 sized hard cover book, Light grey cover with gold writing. 544 pagesDedicated to Nancy, Nicola, Anthony and Mark

A5 sized hard back book with mustard coloured cover with black writing & small drawing of bee skep 740 pages Inside front cover are two black & white photographs - A beekeeper tending his hive & a Queen Bee with a circle of bees around herDedication to the former authors of 'The Hive & The Honey Bee, Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth, Charles Dadant and Camille Pierre Dadant, this book is affectionately dedicated by the co-authors

A5 Dark green hardcover book with Gold writing & drawing. 752 pagesSixty essays on the life histories of Australian bees, with specific descriptions of over 100 new species Dedicated to Professor T D a Cockerell, Zoologist, The University, Boulder, Colorado, USA., a master of classification, and his mentor in the mazes of Taxonomy

Small hardcover book. Black inside a bright yellow outer cover with black writing 125 pages