My estranged spouse had two hives of bees that we lost to mites. 2 springs ago, a wild colony moved into one of the abandoned hives. IN the meantime, we separated. I just left the bees alone and they seemed to do fine the last two years. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed there was no activity in the hive and no dead bees lying around. I popped the lid off (but not the underlid), noticed a stream of ants, put the lid back on, and was meaning to send an e-mail to the spouse that the bees had either died or moved on and the ants were in whatever honey was left. I mowed the yard Monday for the first time this season, and the hive was still empty. I just walked out in the backyard, and bees are back in the hive.

A new colony? A new queen and new brood who hatched after a swarm left?