Bee Colony Gone

We first photographed this bee hive, located high up on a dead tree, in 2011 but it may have been there some time before. It was still active in April of 2013 but it is dead and falling apart as of April 2014. We hope the bees might simply have migrated elsewhere and not fallen victim to Colony Collapse Disorder.  A beekeeper friend says new bees may eventually take up residence.  We will be keeping an eye out.