The lifecycle of the Wasp begins with a fertilized female, ready to take her place as Queen. She will have hibernated in solitude for the Winter and in the Spring she emerges and eats then flying low to the ground, she hunts for a suitable nest site. The best sites are underground, by roads, in meadows, in gardens or spruce woods, anywhere where there is a suitable opening. Less commonly they nest above ground in hollow trees or wall cavities.
When she finds soewhere suitable, she flies around her territory, fixing it in her memory. Then she begins to make the nest using a paper-like material she makes out of salive and old rotting wood. She scrapes off small pieces using her mandibles and mixes it all together in to a ball and then carries it back to the nest. The nest when finished will be a bit like a fruit, with a protective skin and a stalk from which it hangs. Inside, suspended from the top will be a series of platforms, which are the combs, made up of hexagonal cells, open at the bottom. She begins by spreading the mixture into a thin strip, making the stalk, the beginnings of the protective outer skin and the first few cells. She lays her first eggs in the cells.
In the beginning the Queen is in charge of everything as she has no helpers. She hunts and tends the larva and carries on constructing the nest. Very soon she would not be able to do everything but the first generation will be mature in 4 to 5 weeks and will take over all of the Queens duties, except egg laying. It is the beginning of June generally when these first Workers, or sexually immature females are ready. Once she has Workers she will not leave the nest again.
When they take over building, they add further supports to the comb as well as further combs, downwards, parrallel to the one above. They rebuild and add to the protective skin, enlarging it as they go and enlarge the entrance. The nest cavity itself often needs enlarging and they do this by carrying out fragments of stone and soil, sometimes much heavier than themselves. Anything too big to take out, is either incorporated into the nest, such as large stones or chewed off, such as minor roots.
The hive has to grow quickly as it has a limited lifespan, come the cold the hive will die off and only a few fertilized females will survive, hibernating in solitude. The first cells are small and are used for workers and males, later on there will be large cells as well which are used for males and females. Each cell can be used repeatedly. By the end there will be 8 to 10 combs of about 20 cm in diameter containing between 7000 and 10,000 cells. The numer of large cells gives an indication of the age of the nest. All members of a colony smell the same and differentiate the inhabitants of a different colony by their smell.
In each cell the egg is laid by the Queen and hatches into a larva, it is stuck in the cell so it can not fall out and is unable to move. It is dependant on the workers for care and they feed it regurgitated juices with older larva taking some solid food too. It moults three times and in the final stage is fat enough to fill the cell and not need sticking in. It will make a silky cap over the cell entrance and then spinitself a cocoon inside which it pupates. When it hatches it chews it's way out and remains in the nest for some time before leaving on it's first flights.
The first Males begin to appear in August and the first females in September. A sexually mature female will be fertilized by a Male and retains the sperm in a dormant state. When she lays eggs as a Queen she can choose whether to fertilize the egg or not, selecting the sex. Males have no purpose within the nest except reproduction, but they are not treated cruelly and are allowed to live, unlike Bees.... Males never leave and do not have stings. The workers can not exist without the nest and have one further task - they regulate the temperature of the nest. If it gets too hot they vibrate their wings inside the nest and bring in water. They also harvest a cooling secretion from the mouthparts of larva.
Towards Autumn the number of Workers drops as the number of Males and Females increases and this is the beginning of the end. With fewer workers, the larvae starve and when their cell becomes too big for them, they fall out onto the roof of the comb below. Once there, the workers see them as refuse and remove them from the nest where they die. Only some fertilized females will survive, hibernating in sheds, cracks or house lofts. Each nest only lasts one year and the new Queen will always choose a fresh site. In less temperate countries it does appear that the Common Wasp nest can survive for more than one year. Nests break down rapidly.
Wasps eat sweet things, like fruit and soft drinks and meat, feeding on carrion when available, but they also hunt. They are predatory and hunt insects, but mostly flies and these are it's main food. It attacks them when they are not flying, gripping them with it's feet, killing with it's mandibles and stinging if necessary. It turns the insect into a parcel, biting off legs, head and wings and then carries it back to the nest. In feeding off of the insect it sucks out the prey's juices. This predatory role is very important in ecosystems and helps to maintain a balance within the insect world.
They do not attack unless provoked, contrary to popular opinion! But their nature is that of a predator and they do not hesitate to defend when they feel threatened.
Wasps are instinctive and never waste time. They are all economy and speed for they live for such a short time and they have a lot to achieve. They always know how to make their nest and it is always perfect and it never develops. Occasionally some other material is incorporated such as a piece of paper or polystyrene. Wasps are born knowing how to carry on the work of their predecessors. They build in the dark and with limited space.
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So everything Ted says about Wasps fits with this, but here is a summary of some of the characteristics of the Wasp.
Although there is a class sytem it is based on efficiencey not snobbery or slavery. The Queen will have done every job a Worker will have done.
The Wasps are always moving, settling briefly before finding a new home each year.
They are completely focused on raising the next generation.
They are not cruel to lesser members of their society.
They are very inventive and will make any chosen cavity work.
Their method is perfectly efficent, it is economical and quick.
Their method is instinctual but never develops although it does adapt.
They are fiercely loyal and will die for their nest.
They are completely dependant on their nest and only the Queen can survive without it.
Everything they make uses what is around them and is completely biodegradable.
They can only survive in the warmth
They work as well in the dark as the light, building in the dark and hunting in the light.
They are well able to defend themselves.
I can see myself in this.... Wasps welcome change - new places, new starts and can adapt their knowledge for the location. They instinctively know the right way and efficency, economy and speed comes quickly to them. They are all about community, fiercely loyal they will fight and defend it but will also sacrifice themselves. They will do whatever is needed within their community, whenever it is needed. They are creative, they are builders, they are engineers. Their creativity is beautiful and has to be useful. They are also female warriors, dedicated to the family, to continuation, they work for the greater good, for something bigger than themselves.
I have never had a problem with new places and situations - changing jobs frequently and in the past, moving around the country. F would laugh at the bit about knowing the right way to do things and focusing on efficienecy, economy and speed - I am a master of Logistics. He finds this both useful and infuriating (when he has not told me something that subtly alters my perfect plan). I will do any task from top to bottom in an organisation. I like to create but I do feel the need to create things for a use. I have the brain of an engineer or a builder. I am coming to understand that the community around me is more important than what I am doing, which is why I am still in my current job, because they are my family. I am getting to grips with defending myself... I have always felt pulled on by some purpose. I like sweet things and warmth.
I think the Warrior side of the Wasp is the bit I have struggled with the most, this determined defence of self, self preservation. I have not struggled so much with self-sacrifice. Fighting back....
Maybe I knew instinctively somehow that Tim was Wasp too, family, I let myself be beaten in to giving him up. I think the decision my family forced me in to helped define me as less a Queen and took away some of my fierce independence, my instinctive knowing of what decision I should make. This was ultimately damaging. I guess I dealt with my family by moving away, establishing my own nest and building my own community.
But there is a flexibility in role for Wasps. The Queen who can do everything but eventually retreats into the dark to be fertile. The workers who do everything, except reproduce, who are out there working hard and fighting. The Males who don't do a lot really, except mate, dreaming in the dark. I think I am definately stuck in Worker and I also find it really iteresting that I can not be a Worker and reproduce. I think if ever I have children, my life will change very dramatically.
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