# Felling a bee tree... which direction?



## woodstock22 (Jun 28, 2013)

I found a Grand Fir bee tree yesterday on my place with the entrance 30 feet up. I can fall it east/west or north/south. The entrance is on the north face. Does anyone have any guesses or rules of thumb as to which way the comb would be oriented? I want to try to fall the tree parallel with the comb to kind of keep from smashing the bees. The goal is a cut out of feral bees. Thanks!


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

google bee trees and look at images, they are generally wrapped around each other and anchored everywhere, I don't think it will matter as far as comb goes, but I would drop it with the entrance up so it's easier to access.


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## Santa Caras (Aug 14, 2013)

your cutting down a WHOLE tree to get to a feral hive???? I dont know....sounds a lil extreme to me. Anyway you cut it, when that tree falls......well I've never done but I just cant picture anything good coming of it.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Which way is it leaning? That's which direction.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Anything you can safely do to land it gently will help a lot... I don't think it matters which way... the soft way?


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## Broglea (Jul 2, 2013)

or just surround it with swarm traps. Should at least get a few swarms from it each spring.


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## JW Fletcher (Jun 23, 2014)

There i s a lot more to throwing a tree than just cutting away . you need to take in whether its leaning, where the weight(limbs) are and such. If you are inexperienced don't be shy get some help. you cant stop it when it starts to fall. you can direct it some , but only if you have the experience. Bee careful and get some help.also If you dont get your notches right it can Kick back and get you . thats always bad.


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

The fact that he used fell instead of chop makes me inclined to think he may have done it a time or two ( I could be wrong) 3 yrs running a chainsaw on a clearing crew tells me that leaving the branches above will soften the blow of the trunk quite a bit because it will decelerate as the limbs crush and drive into the ground, and the higher up the nest is the more speed and momentum it will experience before it suddenly stops. Like I stated before I would try to drop it with the entrance up (I was however assuming that the canopy was even), but I will add that if one side or the other has more branches then that would override my previous thought since they will soften the blow a but but even that will be hard to do with a 30 ft entrance.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

I don't see why it would matter whether the entrance hit the ground, unless it laid against the ground and bees couldn't get in or out.

We had a cpl of logs w/ bees in them delivered by logging companies to OSU/ATI back 28 years ago. The saw mill didn't want to deal w/ them. Loggers being loggers I bet they fell them the best way for them regardless of the bees. Safety of crew members being paramount.

Drop it, buck it, and haul it away. Then stand it up like it stood before. That's my recommendation.


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## Riverderwent (May 23, 2013)

Let it fall to the west if all other things are equal. Let us know how it works out.


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## Kirk (Jan 3, 2014)

Sounds like a bunch of trouble and a big mess. Why not try to catch swarms from it each year?

Kirk


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## woodstock22 (Jun 28, 2013)

So here is the deal on the bee tree. It is a Grand Fir...meaning it has a genetic predisposition for rotting from the inside out. There is obviously a cavity 30 feet up, which means that it has a pretty good chance of breaking there every time the wind blows hard. I thought of leaving it for swarms but if and when it breaks, it will break through the hive. I have 25 years experience in the timber industry so getting it down safely is definitely with in my ability. I am planning on putting it south through some other tree canopy to get it down as slow as possible. (Thanks Michael)
I will keep everyone posted and try to put up some photos.
Thanks to all for the advice and comments.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

You should see the video that came up on my Facebook page of a guy cutting a tree down making it fall between a house trailer and a garage(?) w/ just enough room for the trunk when it fell. Quite a feat.


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

sqkcrk said:


> You should see the video that came up on my Facebook page of a guy cutting a tree down making it fall between a house trailer and a garage(?) w/ just enough room for the trunk when it fell. Quite a feat.


or the one where the guy already had it topped and tried dropping a 12 ft log into a pickup with and 8 ft bed........ needless to say it left a mark LOL


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

I was focusing on the positive.


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