What are these freaky bee looking bugs that are all over the pieces of wood from the tree we cut down?

Question

A tree in my yard was 1/2 dead, so we cut it down. The remains of the tree are stacked near our fire pit, and we are slowly burning it away. There are all these "bee" looking bugs all over the larger pieces from the trunk. I was worried it was termites, but I checked for pictures of them, and, thank GOD, they don't look like termites. They fly, have the body of a bee, and have long legs like spiders. GROSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!
Anyone have a link I can read up on my bugs that are creeping me out? Or ANY information would be helpful.

Ok Thomas, I like your answer, and that link you gave me is interesting, but I still can't find MY bug. Actually, it looks just like the one pictured on that website as "flying insects", but when I click that catagory, I do not see THAT display picture. What's up with that?!?

another addition, because I STILL have yet to see the bugs in my back yard. From stfy(something) girl...about the paper wasps...YOU FREAKED ME OUT!!! but...here's the deal, they DO like like those, except they have more of a see through body. They are back & yellow, like a normal bee, but more of an irredecent color. Whatever they are, I KNOW they can't be good. I think I'll go out and spray the logs with wasp killer, just to be a little safe.

Answer 1

Do they look like this?:

(The second picture - red headed ash borer)
http://www.forestpests.org/ash/bandedborer.html

They are really fast -crawling. If the picture matches..then at least you don't have to worry about getting stung. They are "mimics" - look like wasps, but aren;t. I do admit they are creepy though. Dang, they move fast!

Answer 2

From the site Thomas supplied you said that they look like the picture of the insect for "flying pests"? If that is the case then those are paper wasps and I'm really surprised that you were not stung. Paper wasps are aggressive and attack in swarms so stay far away if they are still there. The smoke may smoke may have sedated or confused them, but you'd be better off with a wasp and hornet killer with a long reach. They are probably hanging out on the log because they have a nest in it.
Here is a pic of paper wasps for comparison:
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3F_adv_prop%3Dimage%26fr%3Dyfp-t-471%26va%3Dpaper%2Bwasps%26sz%3Dall&w=500&h=400&imgurl=static.flickr.com%2F78%2F167508731_28176a866d_m.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fbbum%2F167508731%2F&size=161.2kB&name=167508731_28176a866d.jpg&p=paper+wasps&type=jpeg&no=20&tt=983&oid=34c0d2b2baf78d54&fusr=bbum&tit=Paper+Wasps+on+Rosemary&hurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fbbum%2F&ei=ISO-8859-1&src=p

Answer 3

I saw one of those Sunday night here in Omaha pollinating or getting nectar from some day lilies. I think it's a hummingbird, not a bee. I tried to get close to see what it was but it flew away, suggesting that it wasn't a bee because it didn't try to sting me.

Answer 4

Try http://www.pestprojoe.com

It sounds like they are a species of carpenter bees. Black, bee like, and infest wood. Or they could be carpenter ants, certain carpenter ants have wings.

Either way, you should be able to identify them and find a solution at http://pestprojoe.com

Answer 5

Perhaps you have carpenter bees or tree borers Here's a good site on carpenter bees: http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fei%3DUTF-8%26p%3Dcarpenter%2520bees%26fr2%3Dtab-web%26fr%3Dslv8-&w=187&h=230&imgurl=www.animalport.com%2Fimg%2FCarpenter-Bees.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.animalport.com%2Fanimals%2FCarpenter-Bees.html&size=8.9kB&name=Carpenter-Bees.jpg&p=carpenter+bees&type=jpeg&no=7&tt=991&oid=b93616dcf2099bec&ei=UTF-8