Details:
1. I'm terrible at guesstimating heights and distances and weights...but I'd say the tree is 30-40 feet tall. (I have a simple video of it shot from my phone and will try to figure out how to get it loaded here.)
2. The bees are quite low in the tree. The entrance is in a small slit in the trunk and probably 4-5 feet from the ground.
3. The section with the bees in it wouldn't have to fall at all...we could lay it down or leave it standing.
4. Yes, I can get a car to it, but I don't have a truck, so there's no way I'm hauling that sucker home. My people at home say "no crapping way."
5. Maybe I should find a beat-up truck. I've been wanting one anyway. :)
6. Why can't I tackle the removal on site? It's not populated, and I can access it easily, and I have a beekeeper wiling to help out. Can't I simply arrange to have the tree people cut until I get to bees, then we can do the removal where it stands? Or, we could lay the bottom section of the tree (where the bees are) down and work on it on the ground.
7. Why is this any harder than a removal from a structure? I'm telling you, there are few vacant structures around here.
8. Sure, I'd love to start with easy jobs and work my way up, but this thing is landing right in my lap.
9. I guess the whole thing could wait until spring.
10. Who cleans up? Well, I'd be contracting the tree service, and the company where the tree's located is willing to pay for it, so I guess I contract with the tree people to remove it and build all the tree removal cost into the proposal.
11. And it seems like a great benefit to have guys on hand with all those chainsaws to help cut away the wood.
Seriously...help me out here because it feels as if I'm missing something...I can't quite figure out why dealing with a tree is harder than dealing with a house (at least this tree...where the bees are low in it and the owners are willing to cut the tree down). Is it because there are more variables to handle? I think it looks like fun, but not if I lose all the bees in it.
Here's the low-quality video:
Bee tree Liz