Huge bee tree vacant

The huge bee tree colony in Castledale that I'd been watching for years has been destroyed.
A local beekeeper got permission to try to remove the bees.
I'm not sure what his method was but a hole was cut in the tree and comb was removed to make room for a hive body with frames to fit inside the tree. The entire thing was covered over with plastic and left for winter.
When I stopped to look this spring, the plastic was shredded, the hive body was exposed and empty. I could see no comb in the tree or hive body.

Several weeks later the box and plastic was removed leaving a large hole in the tree where the massive colony used to be. The old guy (80ish) across the street said he was raised in that house and the bees have been in that tree for as long as he can remember.