I have never gone through the entire process, but I have an opinion
nevertheless.  I was once called to get a hive out of a tree that had been
knocked down in a storm.  I cut into it in the more-or-less right places,
but the fall had collapsed all the comb together into one sticky glob.  Most
of the bees had drowned, or whatever the proper term is, in honey.  I
decided it was beyond my ability to salvage it.
My feeling is that felling the entire tree before you get to the part with
the bees is likely to be fatal to the hive.  Professional tree guys working
in an urban environment will usuually take it down from the top, lowering
each section as they cut.
 
 
 
Guy F. Miller
Charlottesville. VA