Yellow Jacket and Wasp Nests

Yellow jacket and wasps aren’t particularly fussy when it comes to finding a spot to settle down and build their new home. All they need is somewhere dry, safe and structurally sound enough to support a nest.

They will settle anywhere, with some species preferring hollow trees, rock crevices or man made structures. Some choose to nest underground.

The process begins when a queen wasp emerges from hibernation, as she promptly searches for a place to call home.

Providing for herself, the queen settles on a location and starts to build. She constructs using wood mixed with saliva. This forms a malleable pulp that is perfect for molding.

The queen lays eggs into the hollow spaces – the cells – she creates. The eggs hatch and grow to become her first worker wasps.

When they reach adulthood, the new workers take over the responsibility of foraging for supplies and building the nest. The queen is then resigned to laying eggs for the rest of her life.

Wasps are architects, continually growing their nests to house the rising numbers of insects in the colony.

Some species’ nests are large and elaborate, whereas others are small and compact. But each species builds homes perfectly suited to the needs and the size of their colony.