Normally, we would call a live bee removal expert when we had problems with honey bees on our property. Last month, as much as I hated to do it, I had to call an exterminator; The honey bees had gotten into the chimney and nested over Springtime… During the summer, we didn’t need to use the chimney, and we weren’t aware of the complication we would soon have, when fall began and the temperatures began dropping, we often used the fireplace to put a burst of heat in the condo in the day. When the fireplace was lit in mid-July, we realized there was something wrong. The people I was with and I only had the chimney cleaned every other year. The people I was with and I wished this was the year it had been cleaned. The people I was with and I lit the fire and smoke started pouring into the house… My fiance checked the flue, however it was okay. The people I was with and I had a clog in the chimney and it smelled terrible. The people I was with and I called the chimney sweep and asked to have our chimney cleaned. What she found was not what we expected, however a pressing hive of honey bees had taken residence in the chimney. The people I was with and I had to call an exterminator to make sure the bees were dead before we could have the chimney cleaned. The exterminator said we had over a thoUSnd honey bees in the chimney and it was the burnt honey we were smelling, then she said there had to be numerous gallons of honey that was going to end up in the hearth, unless we could have something inside the hearth to catch the honey and dead honey bees she couldn’t get, as they oozed out.