2 (TWO) POUNDS OF NATURAL AUSTRALIAN PINE NEEDLES. Casuarina equisetifolia, also knows as Australian pine, USED FOR BEEKEEPING AS SMOKER FUEL, 100% NATURAL, The best fuel used for professional beekeeping, easy to use and burn steady with constant smoke (lot of smoke), SMOKING the bees has been known for thousands of years, the scientific explanation for how it works is more recent. Under normal circumstances if a beehive is threatened, guard bees will release a volatile pheromone substance, iso-pentyl acetate, better known as an alarm odor. This alerts the middle-aged bees in the hive — the ones with the most venom — to defend the hive by attacking the intruder. When smoke is blown into the hive first, however, the guard bees’ receptors are dulled and they fail to sound the pheromones alarm. Conveniently the smoke has a secondary effect in that it causes the other bees to instinctively gorge themselves on honey. The smell of the smoke makes the bees think that their home is on fire and they instinctively start their fire drill. Instead of defending the hive, they start to eat honey in order to prepare to leave and find a new home.