Had a real scare with a hidden beehive in a chimney last month

I was cleaning a standard brick chimney for a house in Springfield. The brush hit something soft about 15 feet down, and a second later a few bees came up the flue. The homeowner had no idea they were there. I capped the top fast and told them to call a pest pro before I could finish. It got me thinking, do you guys stop the job right away for something like that, or do you have a go-to method to handle it yourself if it's small? I don't like leaving a job half done, but bees felt beyond my pay grade.

4 comments

4 Comments

max_schmidt772mo ago

Stopped a job cold last year for the same thing. Found a small hive in a chase. I called a beekeeper I know instead of a pest guy. He came and got them out alive for about a hundred bucks. I waited and finished the sweep after. Now I keep his number in my truck. You did the right thing capping it and walking away.

bell.jessica21h ago

Honestly, I get why people think this is the right call, but is it really that big of a deal? Bees are dying off, sure, but one small hive in a chase isn't going to save the whole species. Tbh, I've seen guys just smoke them out and patch it up, and the job's done in half the time. Ngl, I think some folks go overboard acting like every bee colony is a national emergency. A hundred bucks for a beekeeper is fine, but I'm not losing sleep over capping a chase and moving on.

tessap972mo ago

Wait, only a hundred bucks? That's way less than I would have guessed. Good on you for calling a beekeeper first.

anna7172mo ago

Actually, a hundred bucks is pretty cheap for a live removal. Most beekeepers around here charge more like two or three hundred. Still better than killing them though.