When folks think of wasps they also think of bees. These 2 insects share many likenesses. The organization of their society is similar. They both have a central queen who is responsible for the continuity of the community. They’re organised into workers whose responsibility it is to look for food and feed the larvae and males who mate with the queen. Wasps and bees similarly build nests and have stings that can be fatal in the case of anaphylactic shock.

Wasps belong to the order of insects known as Hymenoptera. This order consists of more than 6200 species. Many more species are being discovered under this order today. But only 6 species are economically crucial to man. These 6 species are the sole ones that build their nests near or within human enterprises. They’re the species that are regarded as a bother by humans as they regularly sting when incited. These species include the Wasp, German wasp, Common wasp, Red wasp, Norwegian wasp, Cuckoo wasp and Tree wasp.

Although nests of wasps may appear like bees, they differ in the material used to construct them. Unlike bees that use wax to build up their nests, wasps use paper. They make this paper utilizing the same elements that humans use to make paper. The workers use their robust jaws to scrape wood pulp from trees and alternative sources of wood including fence posts. The workers chew up the pulp and mix it with their spit. The ensuing paper is spread evenly over the under laying brushs to make a covering for the nest.

If you’ve ever observed a wasp nest, you will see the nest is only occupied for one season. This is widespread in regions with temperate climate. In autumn the colony breaks up. By this time, specially bred wasps have matured and have joined with the male wasps and are ready to form new colonies as queens. No other larvae are produced and the workers are now free to do as they please. During this period you’ll spot more workers hunting for sweet liquids and fruits like jam. They could be a bother in this period. They however, die of the cold of winter.

The queen on the other hand finds sheltered spots to sleep in the winter. When the winter passes, the queen springs from her shelter and starts to build hexagonal cells in which to lay eggs. These cells act as the underpinning for the nest. The eggs hatch into males and workers. The workers take over the building of the nest and the males continue to chum with the queen to provide larvae for the continuity of the colony. Once a colony has split up, they never inhabit the same nest. Only wasps will inhabit an old nest.

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