The wasp’s nest was found at the edge of the wood, hanging from the
branch of a small tree. It was greyish white in colour, shaped like a
pear, and about the size of a hen’s egg.
[Illustration]
Queen Wasp.
Worker Wasp.
Queen Bee.
Worker Bee.
Uncle George removed it from the branch and carried it home carefully,
for it was very light and very fragile. He took a pair of scissors and
cut through the thin walls so as to remove nearly half of the coverings.
When he had finished cutting, two thin, papery shells fell upon the
table, one a size smaller than the other.
“Examine the stuff the wasp’s nest is made of, and tell me what it is
most like, boys,” he said.
“It is more like paper than anything else,” said Tom.
“It _is_ paper,” said his uncle.
“Where did the wasps find this paper?” Frank asked.
“Not ‘_wasps_,’ Frank, but _wasp_,” his uncle answered, “for this nest
was all built by _one_ wasp. The insect did not find the paper. She made
it. It was the wasp who first taught man to make paper.
“The queen wasp awakens from her winter sleep in spring, and at once
sets about making her nest. She gathers tiny fragments of wood and bark,
chews them up, and mixes them with a fluid from her mouth. This, when it
hardens, is paper.
“First she makes a stiff rod, or pillar, of paper. This hangs down from
the branch and forms the centre of the nest. Round this are built the
walls of her house.
“Observe, boys, that there are two distinct walls of paper, one inside
the other; and there is a wide air space between them all the way round.
The entrance to the nest is at the bottom. Round the centre pillar there
is a little thing shaped like an opened umbrella. If you look underneath
this, you will see something curious, I think.”
“Oh,” said Frank, “it is divided into six cells, and in each cell there
is a small, stout maggot or grub. I can see them moving.”
“These are the young wasps,” said Uncle George. “Like your butterflies
and caddis flies, the wasp passes through egg, larva (or caterpillar),
and pupa stage before it becomes a perfect insect. These are in the
larva stage but, unlike your caterpillars, they have no legs, and they
cannot feed themselves.”
“Then the mother wasp must have laid an egg in each cell,” said Frank,
“and these grubs hatched out of them.”
“That is so,” said Uncle George. “You see what a clever and industrious
creature a wasp is. To build this beautiful nest all alone and unaided,
and to rear and feed her helpless grubs, is a task indeed.”
“What are the wasp grubs fed on?” asked Frank.
“At first,” said Uncle George, “they are fed on animal food, and this
keeps the queen wasp hunting insects all day long. As they grow older,
they are fed upon honey.
[Illustration]
Nest of Wasp in Spring.
A. Outer wall.
B. Inner wall.
C. Air space.
D. Cells with larvæ.
Same Nest in Autumn.
A. Combs of cells.
B. Supporting pillars.
C. Entrance.
DD. Inner and Outer walls.
E. Air space.
“The wasps which come from these first eggs are ‘worker’ wasps. As soon
as they are hatched out, they begin to enlarge the nest. This they do by
removing the inside wall and building a new and larger outer wall. This
is done from time to time, until at last the nest becomes as big as an
ordinary-sized turnip. While this is going on, more and more cells are
being built inside, until at last five or six large combs of cells fill
the inside of the nest. The queen wasp lays an egg in each cell as it is
formed; and the worker wasps gather food and nurse the young grubs until
they become perfect wasps.
“By and by some young queens, or female wasps, are hatched out. These
lay eggs, and soon the population the paper nest numbers many
thousands.”
“And that is why the gardener kills every wasp he sees in spring time,”
said Frank.
“Every wasp we see in spring,” said Uncle George, “is a queen wasp. If
allowed to live, each queen would become the founder of a nest and the
mother of thousands of wasps.”
“But why destroy the wasps?” asked Tom.
“Because wasps are very destructive and dangerous insects,” said Uncle
George. “They destroy our best fruit, and their sting is poisonous,
sometimes causing death.”
[Illustration: Wasp’s Nest inside Wren’s Nest.]
During the summer the boys found several wasp’s nests. One was built
under-ground at the roadside. Another was built inside a wren’s nest.
The queen wasp who built it had driven the wrens out. A third nest hung
from the branch of a gooseberry bush in the garden.
[Illustration: Humble Bees and Nest.]
The latter was watched by Uncle George and the boys as it grew larger
and larger. Soon, however, the wasps became too numerous. One day they
chased Tom and Frank out of the garden and stung them badly. Then Uncle
George removed the nest. Putting on his bee-veil and gloves, he cut off
the branch from which the nest hung. He put nest and branch inside a
large box; and, having placed a saucer containing burning sulphur inside
the box, he closed the lid.
[Illustration: Nest of Tree Wasp.]
In the morning the wasps were all dead, and the boys examined the huge
nest. Thus they were able to see queens, workers, and male wasps, eggs,
larvæ, and pupæ, and to make drawings of each.
“What becomes of the wasps in winter?” Frank asked his uncle.
“They come to a sad end, Frank,” said Uncle George. “They do not store
food like the hive bee, and so, when the cold weather comes, they starve
to death.
[Illustration]
Queen Humble Bee.
Worker Humble Bee.
“Our good-humoured and hard-working friend, the humble bee, shares the
same fate. A few young queens leave the nest before winter comes on.
These bury themselves in mossy banks and sleep the winter through.”
Exercises on Lesson XI.
1. Look under low branches of larch and spruce trees in spring for the
nest of the wasp. Make a drawing of it. Cut it open and
examine the interior.
2. Compare a piece of the wall of the nest with the torn edge of (1) a
piece of coarse brown paper and (2) a piece of ordinary
newspaper.
3. Write out the life-history of a wasp.
4. Compare the combs of the hive bee with those of the wasp. Notice
that the former are placed vertically in the nest, the latter
horizontally. Observe how the wasp’s combs are kept apart.