It either was or is a honey tree.
I have seen many old trees marked this way for future ID and harvest.
The bees may still be there.
look close and see if the bottom has been opened or is accessable. the old timers would harvest a small amount of the honey from the bottom of the nest and leave about half, this gives the nest a chance to survive the cold and spurs growth the bees will fill it back up and the tree could be harvested many time using this method.
They used to do the harvesting in cold weather to prevent an attack by the bees.
the opening would be made so it could be closed back up.
Wild bees were as big a treasure as gold.
People who knew about them... protected them.
Thom
OD
