Hello Dawn,

Without a photo, I cannot be certain of what you're experiencing.  But here is some general information:

Skunks get a large portion of their protein from consuming insects and often dig into yellow jacket nests and eat the larva in the nest.  Now yellow jackets and other wasps do not create honey or honeycomb, but they do have cells full of fatty larva that are very appealing.  Later in the season like now, the nest is very full.  And as cold weather comes in, the wasps are weaker- they need warmth to get their wings moving.  The thick fur of a skunk is also thought to protect them from stings.  Raccoons will similarly dig and consume nests that are in the wild.  Assuming you are seeing grey paper nest material or "comb" remains leftover... this is my first suspicion.  If you look up skunks and yellow jackets you will see example photos of dug nests and scraps of the gray papery comb that is produced by yellow jackets. 

Skunks and raccoons will also tear off just the top layer of turf in search of beetle grubs to consume. These are the turf grubs that eat grass roots and can be a nuisance too.  But that will be shallow damage, and you describe a pretty deep hole. 

Now we also have ground bees, but they create solitary nests- think a single mom bee and an apartment instead of a queen in a large honey hive.  So there is not a large nest to excavate.  So the size you describe does not seem to align with ground-nesting BEES.  

I hope this information helps you narrow down your suspicions.  You can also reply to this message with a picture that may help us confirm further.