I went down to the shed on our property to check it out and noticed a lot of buzzing critters around a stack of old trash cans beside the building. Returned the next day with a camera to confirm what I saw.
It looked like bees were going in and out of the bottom two cans. They seemed like honeybees
A couple weeks later I realized that I did not see the bees, even on a warm day when they should have been active. Some days later I investigated further. (Got brave enough to disturb the trash cans.) No bees. Another week and still no bees, so pulled the cans apart. Found old honeycombs were in them, but no sign of live bees. Also found two wood rats inside. I don’t know if the rats drove the bees away or if they were simply scavengers.