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what to charge for pulling bees for tree. and advice on doing it

1792 Views 10 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  jbeshearse
Ive got to pull a hive from a 30 foot oak tree with base dia of 3 foot. the knot hole there in is about 20 foot up. I do house pulls for about 100-250 cause I cant see charging more. but this looks like work. I was going to use a long drill bit to drill and try to find top and bottom. then cut a hole in side of tree. or would it be better to fall the tree over and cut in sections


So what would you fellow beekeepers charge for pulling a tree hive or cutting down tree?
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Are they honey bees? if so why would they want the them removed
Are they honey bees? if so why would they want the them removed
yep according to him and the tree cutting service they are honeybees. he was wanting tree cut back and tree guys said "no.not until he kills the honey bees". he is afraid that his to girls might get stung now. both under three but I tried telling him I don't think they would ever bother you and he said they are aggressive at times and have been there for the 5 years he lived there and there getting angrier. So he called me. ive never done a tree hive just around 30 house cut outs.
I think I'd do the first one for the experience of it and then decide how much I'd want to be paid to do it again.
I think I'd do the first one for the experience of it and then decide how much I'd want to be paid to do it again.[/QU



I told him 5-600 at least to cut tree down and remove hive. he seems happy. besides gas and time it really don't cost me any thing. but 2.5 hours of ride time.
Plus, you do you realize what that Oak trees is worth as Firewood?
if he is having a tree service trim the tree back, what about having the tree service set the entire section of trunk down on the ground or even load it onto a truck/trailer for you? i had a couple of situations last summer/fall where i was offered that very thing by tree services doing work in my area. they were about to trim or take out a bee tree, and they would cut it into the shortest section possible and load it onto a trailer for me.

worth a shot.
You could do a trap out and seal the hole if he wants to keep the tree. If he doesn't care about the tree then I'd just cut it.
I was a logger for 12 years and cut several bee trees. We would go above the entrance where we thought it was solid and cut it off. Start working our way back until we found the cavity. Do the same thing at the opposite end.

If it was pretty long we might chunk it up somewhat the take wedges and split it. Cut out from there.
"if he is having a tree service trim the tree back, what about having the tree service set the entire section of trunk down on the ground"


well they said they wouldn't touch it because the bees start stinging everytime they start to use chain saw. but ive had ppl tell me stuff like that before and them be the nicest bees. ive asked him about traping them.
Have you considered screening them in with some #8 hardware cloth? A day or three wouldn't hurt them, and then the arborist wouldn't have to worry about being stung. make a domed patch a little bigger than the entrance and screw it to the tree around the edges. make sure there aren't any other openings and come back once the tree is trimmed and remove it.
The tree service won't touch it, bit if you offer to strap their equipment to the limb then cut the limb down for them, then they place the limb in your truck and you drive off with it. I have do e similar.
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