The smoker is a tool used by the beekeeper to make the bees more docile and to keep them away from the surface of the shallow box. It is made up of a metal cylinder with an air pump, a combustion chamber, and a spout to let the smoke out. Combustible material is placed on the bottom of the smoker and, once lit, is burned with the lid closed so that there is no flame and a lot of smoke is produced.
The smoke makes the bees believe that there is a fire in progress and they, frightened, in addition to approaching the exit by moving to the bottom of the hive, tend to ingest as much honey as possible to prepare to move. The swollen abdomen makes it more difficult for them to extract the stinger.
For this purpose, cigar or pipe smoke was also used in the past.