I posted this on the Home Improvement board, and got a couple responses. This board gets more traffic, so I'm wondering if anybody here can contribute anything. Extra points for especially-thoed ideas.
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I'm pretty sure there's a wasp nest in my chimney. We saw a wasp crawling around on the inside of the fireplace door last weekend, and the next day it had gotten out and was walking on the window next to the fireplace. We killed it with no problem. I thought their might be a nest, but also thought it might just be a single wasp. Well, we had another one on the same window yesterday, and killed that one, too.

So now I'm pretty sure there's a nest in the chimney. We haven't used the fireplace since we moved in this past September (in fact, we haven't even opened the fireplace door), so I don't know what kind of condition it's in. I've been trying to find info online about how to get rid of nests in chimneys, and there seem to be a few different methods that people recommend.

I figure the best options are starting a fire or setting off a fogger. A fire would be the easiest option, but I've found a few things online that say setting a fire may drive the wasps away temporarily, but that they may return later; or that a fire can set the nest on fire and cause more problems. I'm hesitant to use a fogger, since they're such a hassle with covering things, etc.; but if it's more effective, I'm open to it.

Has anybody on here ever gone through this? Any recommendations?

i don't understand what all the buzz is about?

I'd start a fire. Problem solved.

1) Set fire in fireplace
2) throw fogger can on top of fire
3) run
4)?
5) Profit


Or, just do the fire part.

Either way.

Ditto. If you have the flue open, and smoke still starts backing up into the house, THEN you have a big nest and need to call a sweep. The smoke will send them packing.

Parents had a problem like this. Even if you kill the wasps or smoke them away you will still have to get rid of the nest. I would suggest calling a chimney sweep place and see if they can do both for you and avoid having an exterminator come out as well as the sweeper.

i didn't think wasps came back to an abandoned nest.

i had a wasps nest in my grill, so we had burgers with a hint of smoked wasp that night. i turned on the gas, checked to see the wasps were stunned, let it run a while longer, then b o o o o m. some survived the initial explosion and had to be burned on the burners.