I am going to do a cutout on a dead tree this weekend. The hive has been in the tree since at least 2002 but has recently become more "aggressive" (Mostly when the home owner is mowing but he wants them gone or he is going to spray them.) From what I can tell the bottom of the hive is about 7 ft. off the ground and the top is somewhere around 14ft. I am thinking I will cut the tree down then remove the hive, but as this will be my first tree removal I don't know if this will cause to much damage to the hive. The alternative would be to suit up, climb 14ft up a ladder with a chainsaw in hand to do the cut out in the air, which I would really like to avoid. Any ideas, thoughts, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.