Need help identifying a possible lawn pest - Florida

[been]

My backyard thinned the summer before last. This year it has been on the road to recovery though it has been slow going. One section is particularly is sparse with lots of little pockets of open earth. An interesting thing occurred sometime between the evening of Dec. 31st and this morning Jan.

1st. Dozens and dozens of small sand burrows appeared. They came straight up with a small hole in the middle. They're about 2 to 4 inches in height and about 1.5 - 2 inches in diameter. I've searched the web as best I know but seem to only come up with Cicadas Killer Wasp. This is definitely not those as I've seen those in the yard and their mounds are much bigger and besides it isn't the right time of year. I live in Florida, btw. So if you have an idea what this is please let me know. I'd like to be able to identify it as pest or not and in either case I'm interested in learning more about this critter.

[been]

Well, I semi-identified what come up from the ground in mass. They look like little bee's kind of grayish flying all around the yard. Still don't know what they are though.

particularly

[dave]