Wasps truly are wonderful and fascinating creatures. A social wasp nest is an incredible superorganism,
consisting of thousands of interdependent, industrious wasp individuals, all
serving the common good of the colony.
The nests they create are architectural masterpieces of hexagonal cells, painstakingly made from shavings of wood or leaf, and are, in my view, every bit as amazing in structure as the honeycombs created by honey bees (although of course, these nests don't contain honey, with the notable exception of the honey wasps).
Fortunately, I have received many photographs of wasp nests over the years, which I am able to share with you now.
Some of these wasp nests were attached to buildings, such as a deck overhang, and provide a useful visual guide as to the outer appearance of a nest.
However, I also received a wonderful email from Deidre Shannon in Northern Ireland, along with a range of superb photographs that enable us to get a view of the internal structure of a nest.
Below is a picture of a segment of the nest collected by Deidre. You can clearly see the extraordinary symmetry and preciseness of the hexagon-shaped cells.
Deidre had been out walking in the forest, when she had come across remnants of the nest, scattered on the ground. Up above on a tree branch, there was a hanging ball – the rest of the remains of the wasp nest.
Below is a picture of the nest Deidre found in situ. The photograph is a little dark, having been taken in the shadow of a tall tree, nevertheless, you can see that the nest is a kind of ball shape hanging from the tree branch.
Having gathered up the pieces of nest, Deidre took them home to photograph in advance of donating them to a school nature table. I was thrilled to learn of this! I remember how, as a child, I had loved and felt inspired by our school nature table, and how I would contribute to it on a regular basis all manner of things (horse chestnuts, leaves, feathers, pieces of bird egg shell and more).
Deidre sent her photographs to me along with questions about the nest. I was of course pleased to answer, and I’m grateful to Deidre for allowing me to share these pictures on my site.
I can't be 100% sure (I don’t have any pictures of the wasps), but it may be the nest of the Tree Wasp, Dolichovespula sylvestris, or possibly the nest of the Median wasp, Dolichovespula media.
In short, it’s made by the precise layering of tiny pieces
of chewed up wood. This process is
started by the queen wasp and continued by the workers.
All the 'architectural artwork' you are seeing is a result
of the wasps sticking together the little pieces of chewed up wood, layered together
to form hexagonal cells.
The hexagons are the cells where each individual wasp egg is laid, and develops until it emerges as a fully grown adult wasp.
Research on honeycombs suggests that hexagons guarantee the efficient use of materials and space within a nest. We can guess that this may be the reason wasps use them too.
When the hexagonal cells are constructed, they are stuck
together a bit like plates with column supports, with a space in between. This space serves as a 'gangway' or
corridor, where wasps can move between the layers of hexagonal cells.
Around this structure is an outer covering that creates the ball type shape you see in the earlier picture.
Along with the queen, all of the worker wasps
have a part in building this masterpiece.
To expand further, it’s also worth putting the nest
building in to context with the life cycle of the fascinating wasp.
Wasp life cycles vary with species, but in the case of a number of social species such as those from the Dolichovespula genus, it starts with a queen, who emerges from her winter snooze (or diapause) in spring (having mated the previous year prior to hibernating).
The wasp queen gets to work gathering teeny
tiny shavings of wood that she chews to make a pulp, to make the first
few perfectly formed, hexagon-shaped cells.
In each of the cells, she lays an egg and seals up the cells. She continues with this process until the first eggs develop into larvae, pupate, then emerge as adults.
As soon as the young wasps are mature enough to leave the nest, off they go to forage for food for the remaining larvae back at the nest.
In addition to feeding the larvae, the worker wasps also continue where the queen left off with nest construction, so they are now responsible for building the rest of the nest, whilst the queen focuses on egg laying.
The photos taken by Deidre are from a colony coming to
the end of its life. At this stage, bits of hanging nest may begin to disintegrate
and fall off, revealing the wonderful intricate egg cell chambers inside.
Eventually, the whole colony will die apart from the new
queens - they feed, mate, then hibernate until the next year to ensure future generations of wasps.
Wasps really are beneficial. Not only are they pollinators, they also take crops pests that eat human foods. Many other species perform other vital roles in the ecosystem, such as helping control populations of pest cockroaches.
Personally, I think they deserve more recognition for their beneficial role.
Read more about wasp pollination.
When a social wasp colony is at its peak, people may find wasps intimidating at this time,
especially if the wasps are interested in their fizzy drinks, but the key is
not to wave arms about.
They are defensive stingers, so if they feel threatened by your arm wafting, they are more likely to sting. Move calmly away, and the key is, don't drink fizzy drinks and eat fruit near wasps at this time of the year (peak colony time).
Early in
the year in spring, you'll find them less troublesome, but maybe they deserve
a little more tolerance later in the year after all their hard work.
If you are concerned about wasps around your home, you could try hanging a Waspinator at the beginning of the season (early spring). They look a bit like wasp nests to queens looking for a place to build their own. Being territorial, the queen will avoid starting up a nest too close to other wasps.