Tree Down in Denver

We were contacted by Leaf it to Me Tree Care & Services last week to give an assist. As they were cutting down a tree in a residential neighborhood in Denver they realized it had a colony of honey bees in one of the cavities. It is odd to me that the homeowners would not disclose that information prior, but perhaps they did not notice? This was a fairly quick trip due to the skills of the business owner & his crew. Some beekeepers cut bee trees in half and transfer the queen, bees, comb, etc. to a standard bee box. However, if possible I like to keep the log/limb/tree intact because it is way less stress on the bees and way less work/stress for me. Therefore, I suggested to the arborist to try to make two cuts (one above and one below the cavity) and I would take the limb/hive whole. This could have been a really bad ideal if his estimate was off, and could literally cut into the hive. Want to talk about what makes honeybees extremely defensive besides bears? How about an arborist with a chainsaw cutting into there beeswax/colony? Yes, that would be at the top of the list! The cut was done skillfully and the roped off log made its way down to the ground softly where it was loaded into my truck.

These bee trees are just as fascinating to me as structure removals, and wish more bee swarms would choose them as opposed to home cavities. Although I do not have arborist skills if they did, so there is that part. Ron helped me unload the bee tree out of the truck and we strapped it to the bee tree next to it. We attached a roof (piece of wood) to keep water and snow from rotting the top and/or letting moisture into the limb. I wish I would have videoed the pull off of the screen from the entrance. I have never seen so many bees pour out of a hive. Hopefully, they will survive this Winter and spread some of there genetics into the apiary next year.