Have you ever disturbed a hornets nest in your chimney while cleaning it?

[trailrated]

I found a dead horse hornet in the ash I was cleaning out of the stove. He wasn't burnt, just dead. (Horse Hornets are those giant brown and yellow bees, generally 3x bigger than your typical white faced hornet.)

This has got me wondering what kind of surprise I may get when I clean out the pipe................

 

[blades]

Just run a nice hot fire of short duration the day before you are going to clean, no surprises after that.

 

[Hurricane]

Just run a nice hot fire of short duration the day before you are going to clean, no surprises after that.

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Yellow jackets are what really likes the chimney. I think perhaps the odor maybe draws them. So we always look up the chimney before we start cleaning. If they are there, some of that spray that will shoot a long distance works great.

 

[grommal]

I have often found dead yellow jackets in the bottom of my chimney near the cleanout door (exterior masonry chimney), but I have never found a live one yet, nor any evidence of a nest. I've always wondered what they were doing in the chimney and what caused their demise.