I have a dead oak tree which needs to be removed before it falls on my garage. A pretty large (based on traffic) feral bee colony has established in it. Since the tree is very close to the garage, the arborist will need to use a crane, making it a little more complex than normal.

I spoke with one local bee "enthusiast" (for lack of a better word) and his only option was to give suits to the arborists and help out with smoke while they cut it, then split the trunk and relocate some combs and the queen to a small box hive (leaving the trunk for a few days to let the workers move). Unfortunately the arborists won't really consider this option due to the complication of the close garage and crane. Epi-pen was mentioned a few times too....

Do I have any other options rather than killing the colony? I'm willing to take some extraordinary measures, including extra cost, if there are any.

Thanks,

Matt