SOCIAL LIFE 



87 



the same. In the fall of the year the fertilized queens 

 hibernate in the crevices and sheltered nooks. In the 

 spring they look 

 about for suitable 

 nesting-places ; with 

 wood-pulp gathered 

 by themselves they 

 build up the first 

 layer of cells. The 

 queen deposits an egg 

 in each of these cells 

 and feeds the newly 

 hatched grubs a week 

 or ten days until the} 

 pupate. Ten days 

 later the perfect 

 wasps have come out 

 of these cells and arc 

 ready to take up 

 their share of the re- 

 sponsibility in the 

 work of the colony. 

 These first wasps are 

 workers. The work of 

 gathering the wood- 

 pulp and moulding 

 the same into cells now devolves wholly upon these 

 workers. The queen devotes her time and attention to 

 depositing an egg in each of the cells. The colony con- 

 sists of the queen and an increasing number of workers, 

 until the late summer, when drones are developed. As 



FIG. 69. Hornets' nest. Drawn from nature 

 by Miss M. E. Wise. 



