How Does a Wasp Colony Build a Nest?

Wasps Harvest Little Chunks of Wood

Paper-making wasps like yellowjackets and white-faced black hornets have powerful enough jaws to bite and pull off little chunks of wood from fences and other boards. The wood reacts with the wasp's saliva, softening and turning into a pastey pulp. At the nest site, the wasp releases the pulp and uses its front feet to pat the pulp like a putty onto the nest in careful layers.

Wasp Nest Architecture

The wasps make the outside of the nest harder, like a shell. This part is waterproof. Inside are rows of little individual oval cells stacked on top of each other like apartments in a high-rise building. Each layer connects to a strong vertical core that attaches at the top to the branch or beam from which the whole nest hangs. Each cell opens on the same side and slants down. The door to the whole nest is always a hole at the bottom.

Wasp Nest Form Follows Function

The queen wasp lays one egg in each cell of the nest. It sticks to the paper so even with the downward slant of the cell's opening, the egg won't fall out. The larvae hatch and stay put in the cells. They don't fall out, either, because they have a sticky back end that keeps them in. They put out their heads so that the worker wasps will feed them. When a nest needs to get bigger, the wasps cut a section of the interior paper and then attach new sections to the outside.

Seasonal Rebuilding

Wasp colonies only use a nest for one season, but other insects can take up residence in old wasp nests. Wasps only fly well when the outside temperature is over 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Winter freezes kill any live wasps except for queens, which can hibernate over the winter. Every year, the queen starts a new nest and the expanding colony enlarges it so that there is enough space for all of the residents.

Resources

• Detailed Instructions and Pictures About Eradicating Wasp Nests