Wasp 101
Wasps who live in colonies, known as “social wasps” are typically friendly insects. They construct their nests in tree cavities, unused animal burrows and buildings. A newly mated wasp holes up in a warm place during winter and the “queen” comes out in spring to start constructing a new nest. The queens first batch of eggs hatch in to infertile female “laborers”, who in turn take over food collecting and nest constructing responsibilities. The queen continues laying eggs. The young laborer wasps collect insects throughout the spring to feed the queens hatched larvae. When spring is over, most of the eggs mature into fertile females (the future queens) and male wasps, known as drones. Then they move out of the colony in large numbers and find other wasps to mate with. As the weather gets colder the males, workers, and the queen mother die. The females wise enough to find a warm spot to survive the winter emerge as new queens, and they cycle starts all over again!
The other type of wasp, known as the solitary wasp, is definitely not considered friendly. This type of wasp uses it’s stinger for hunting rather than defense. It primarily spends it’s time forging for food and building its nest. These types of wasps like to build their homes by burrowing in the ground. You will find the largest breed of wasps in the solitary wasp category.
Where are wasp nests found?
If you know what you’re looking for, locating a wasps nest can be relatively easy. But more often than not, wasp nests are hidden in a hole in a tree, or similarly unexposed holes. They like to shelter in cracks within walls, damaged or rotting roofs and neglected pipes. If you spot one, be careful not to step on it or touch it. Leaving it alone is the best way to avoid being stung. The safest practice for a wasp nest removal is to reach out to a pest control company to take care of it.
How do they build their nests?
As mentioned earlier, wasps build nests to nurture and protect the queen, her eggs, and eggs that have hatched, called larvae. All wasps construct nests for these sole purposes. Because their purpose is so important, these insects are incredibly efficient in nest construction to ensure maximum effectiveness. Though nests may vary in size, space, and structure the process is often the same. They start by locating an optimal site. Some of these may include:
- Tree branches
- Underground
- Inside garages
- Against a house
Actually they can build on anything that can support the structure provided it is concealed and quiet away from human activity. After locating the right site, the workers scrape and chew small wood particles off branches, cardboards and fences. They then mix them with their saliva and water for enfeebling so as to create a sticky and soft paper pulp. After that, they move to the building site and use their mandibles and front legs to pour out the pulp on the surface. When the paste dries, it changes into a strong paper structure from which the remaining part of the nest will be extended.
Architecture
While hornets usually construct larger nests resembling a football, yellow jackets build umbrella shaped structures. Be as it may, all these nests have a similar foundation architecture. Essentially, they have many hexagonal cells which act as rooms for the queen to lay and breed her young ones. And because the main goal of the nests is to nature the younglings and develop a colony, the hexagonal cells, require additional protection. Thus, the
workers continue adding a paper pulp hexagonally to build the inner cells. Once this stage is complete, the queen adds extra layers of paper, enveloping the cells completely to protect the young ones against predators and harsh weather conditions.
Don’t fancy wasps? Our pest management service can help. Our pest control company will not only rid your house of rodents and insects, but also prevent them from re-building their nests.
Now in spite of their annoying character
(ruining picnics and building nests in hour houses) they also help control other harmful insects and crop pests.
For how long do they inhibit the nest?
Generally, they stay in the nests for a season (from the beginning of spring to the beginning of autumn or end of summer. By the beginning of autumn the nest is often at its peak size as the colony keeps growing. The colony will
start dying out when winter approaches because of food shortage. The only wasp that survives this is a fertilized queen by hibernating in a roof, attic, a house’s basement or old trees. After the colony dies out completely, and the
weather is less cold, the entire building process starts all over again. Note that wasps never reuse old nests.
Should you administer wasp nests?
If provoked, paper, hornet and yellow jacket wasps sting. Nonetheless, this is not a logical reason to dismember their nests. As mentioned earlier, wasps don’t just interfere with your picnics; they also serve a good purpose. For
instance paper and hornet wasps feed on insects such as weevils, caterpillars and grubs. So allowing them to build in your home could help you keep these pests under control. What’s more, they also play an important part in pollination as they collect wooden fibres and food.
Be as it may, there are some types of wasps like yellow jacket that prey on dead animals and sugars. So be on the lookout for: German yellow jackets, Eastern yellow jackets, Southern yellow jackets and Western
yellow jackets. These breeds are very dangerous and can easily sting you. Another time that you should administer the nests is when you or a relative is allergic to the wasp venom. It will go along in ensuring your safety.
Now, if the nest is very small, it means it doesn’t have many wasps and you can try to get rid of the nest yourself. You can also do it yourself if it is early spring and you are mot allergic to stings. However if any of these conditions is absent or you are not sure of how to do it, call a professional as the danger associated with doing it yourself is certainly worth the cost. The stings are not just very painful but also have a considerable risk of infection. A good pest control company will offer an all-inclusive pest elimination treatment where qualified experts carryout the process safely and efficiently.
Parting shot
Building nests is part of a wasp’s natural way of life. They don’t construct them to harm anybody; they only do it to survive. As such, if you don’t have any good reason, don’t interfere with them. Allow them to live their life as you live yours. Note: When a wasp is killed or stings, the smell of the venom makes other wasps very aggressive.
