We had a great week at Clear Creek State Park. The weather was good and the water was still warm enough to float down the river in an inner tube. The second last day of the trip was one of those beautiful clear sunny days when the sky is bluer than blue and you can see forever from the outlook at Beartown Rocks. But, like all days fitting that description, the air was noticeably cooler than normal. That evening was especially cool and we had to slide the lawn chairs closer to the campfire to keep warm.
We stayed comfortable in the Airstream that night, but by morning the temperature in the trailer had definitely become what you would call "a bit nippy". Nobody wanted to get out of their nice warm sleeping bags. So, it was time to grab my trusty lighter and light up the ol' furnace.
The Suburban furnace in a '71 Globe Trotter 21 is located under the street side sofa bed. The pilot light is about 3 inches off the floor inside the rear compartment door. You have to lay on the floor and reach into the compartment a ways to get to it. The shut off valve is located about an arm's length into the compartment. It makes one appreciate why new trailers have those automatic ignition systems. First I unlatched the cover on the Suburban and then unscrewed the pilot access cap. I pushed the pilot button in for a while and then held the lighter in over the pilot orifice. There was a muffled popping sound and the pilot was out. I figured I waited a little too long before I held the lighter up to the pilot and that the chamber had a little too much propane in it. So, I tried again.
Somehow, a stupid bee had managed to get into the trailer and was flying around at the window. I wondered how it got in. Our trusty fly swatter took care of the bee, and I set to work on the furnace again. This time the pilot lit, but when I turned on the burner there was a muffled "Boom" from the furnace. That's when I noticed that the pilot light hole was covered with bees! The explosion in their beehive (which they had built inside my furnace) had really upset them! I hurriedly placed the cover back on the furnace and contemplated my next move.
The oven at home has a self cleaning setting where the temperature in the oven gets so hot it turns the crud coating the walls of the oven to ash. That's so much easier than oven cleaner; you just incinerate the dirt! With that in mind, I decided that the best way to get rid of the bees and their hive was to cremate them on the spot. I figured that the hive couldn't be very big.
After a brief rest, I decided to try to light the furnace again. This time, the fire lasted a little longer, but when I looked at the furnace vent on the outside of the trailer there was black smoke pouring out and staining the side of the trailer with black soot. The smell was ghastly. That's when I decided that I would heat the trailer by making something on the stove for breakfast (instead of the using the furnace). The next move would have to be at home.
After we returned home from Clear Creek, I set out on my mission to evict the bees from my furnace. There seemed to be plenty of bees in there in spite of the fire they had suffered earlier. Again I tried burning them out. I lit the furnace several times, but the furnace never started to burn properly. It was obvious that the flame was not getting enough air as indicated by the black smoke coming out of the vent. The bees got very angry and I had to carry the fly swatter with me to protect myself.
For my next trick, I employed the services of my Shop Vac. This involved taking the furnace vent plate off the side of the trailer. This was tricky because the bees that were out in the field were constantly returning home to the hive. I'd work a few seconds on the trailer and as soon as I heard buzzing, I jumped up and swatted furiously with the fly swatter. (I imagine the neighbors were entertained by all this). I got the vent plate off and stuck the hose from the Shop Vac right into the vent pipe. When I turned the Shop Vac on "blow", charred bees and bits of hive flew out everywhere. When these bits landed on the lawn, the returning bees were attracted to them and seemed to become very agitated by them. I imagine there was some sort of "alarm chemical" all over the pieces of hive. I had to be extra careful of the returning bees now! I placed the Shop Vac hose in the inlet and the outlet vents alternately. I got a load of debris out that way. When I lit the furnace again, however, I was still not getting complete combustion. It eventually became apparent that I was going to have to remove the furnace from the trailer. I was afraid of that!
I had heard that Airstream trailers were very difficult to work on (by people who work on trailers, but apparently NOT on Airstreams) but I found the furnace removal to be quite easy. Once the furnace was sitting in the driveway, I had bees in three places. I had bees attracted to the bits of hive on the lawn, the vent opening on the side of the trailer, and now the furnace sitting at least 30 feet away from the trailer. Whatever those pheromones are that the bees use to communicate with must be very potent! Amazingly, I didn't get stung once. It was the quick work with the fly swatter that saved me! I took the combustion chamber out of the furnace and took it apart as much as I could. I jabbed coat hanger wires into the combustion chambers to break up the remaining hive. Then I'd blowing into it with the Shop Vac. At first, debris flew everywhere. Eventually I was getting nothing more out of it. I had no idea when I started how big that hive was! The combustion chamber must have been 2/3's full of hive. I put everything back together and it worked! The smell of burning hive remained for a while, but I ran it for quite some time to get it good and hot. That burned everything up and the smell went away (just like the self cleaning oven!)
Now, did I just tell you all this to suggest this was a good way to fix a furnace? NO WAY! One false move or mistake could have resulted in a propane explosion, a leak, and/or carbon monoxide poisoning. I'm not a qualified repairman, so don't do what I did. BUT! One thing you should consider is to make sure your furnace vent or any vent on your trailer, has an adequate bug screen on it to prevent a swarm of bees from commandeering your furnace or hot water tank. For the Suburban furnace, there is a special screen available to keep bees out. Don't try a piece of regular window screen, it will not work. Regular window screen blocks enough air flow that the pilot light will not stay lit! I found that out the hard way! Always BEE careful when working on your furnace!