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Can anyone help identify whether i have a pest or a friend burrowing inside a log near my greenhouse.  the insects are flying insects.  they look a bit like a black flying ant buy are slightly slimmer than ants.  I don't think they are ants.  They are about 1.5cm long, completely black.  the log is not swarming, onlyl see one or two around at any one time and they go in a hole and come out again a few seconds later - i presume it is the same one. although it has turned around inside the log.  i also assume that they have made a nest in the log.

Do i have Friend or Foe - can anyone help.

I'm no expert at insects - but if it is a dead log, and the wood is decaying and thay are living in the soft bits, I wouldn't worry about it at all. I have a small pile of logs on the plot which are colonised by various creatures, including stag beetles.

Maybe solitary bees, but it's impossible to be sure with nothing more to go on. They certainly won't do any harm.