Do you remember beehive burners? They were ugly brutes that seemed to grow up out of the ground. They had blackened steel sides sloped up like a teepee. They belched out smoke and sparks and ash and glowed red at night. There were many beehive burners in Lumby and they were by far the tallest structures in our town. Housewives complained of ash falling on freshly washed laundry drying outdoors, but the ash was a signal the lumber business was alive and well and Lumby was prospering. In 1970, sawmills all over the province were ordered to begin phasing out beehive burners as new anti-pollution standards were enacted. Today, sawmill wood waste is chipped to make pulp and paper products or wood pellets.
