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Last
spring, a mated queen wasp crawled out from under
a stump where she spent the winter. After eating
flower nectar and insects, the queen started this
nest on a branch. She chewed up plant fibers and
weathered wood to make the grey papery pulp for
the first egg cells.
The
queen reared the first brood herself. She looked
for food and fed the growing larvae. In about
a month these larvae became adult worker-daughters
and took over cleaning, building and feeding chores
for the next generation. The wasp population grew
and the nest expanded all season as the workers
added new layers of cells.
In
late summer, the queen stopped laying eggs. Among
the last generation, were both queens and males
that developed in special cells. When they emerged,
they mated and the queen crawled away into a hiding
place under bark, in an old stump or under litter
to spend the winter. The workers and males died
before winter. (Source:
Yellow Jackets - Integrated Pest Management -
British Columbia
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