HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



121 



ON THE COMMON WASP, CHIEFLY AS COMPARED AND 

 CONTRASTED WITH THE HIVE-BEE. 



By J. YATES. 



F we lay bare a 

 wasp's nest in No- 

 vember, we shall 

 of course witness 

 a great commotion 

 amongst the in- 

 mates, but the 

 experiment may 

 be made with 

 impunity, as the 

 wasps are now so 

 benumbed with 

 cold and scanty 

 fare that they no 

 longer attempt to 

 sting. 



On close in- 

 spection, three 

 kinds of wasps 

 may be observed — 

 "small neuters,* 

 or workers, now few in number," "middle sized 

 sting-less males," "and from two hundred to three 

 hundred large wasps " — these are the queens or 

 fertilized mothers which will make their appearance 

 in the sunny weather of the next spring. These 

 only survive the winter — some few of them remain in 

 the nest, but the greater proportion of them hibernate 

 in warm and sheltered spots, in ncoks and crannies, 

 in the thatch of cottages, in straw ricks. 



When the bright sun of March arrives, they are 

 revived to life and activity, and then they may be 

 seen about every hedge-bank seeking for a suitable 

 hole in the ground where each may found a vespiary or 

 commonwealth. 



Having made choice of a suitable spot, the queen 

 at once commences to scoop out the soil, and carry 

 it away in her jaws ; soon a vaulted chamber is made 

 a foot or more beneath the ground. 



* These neuters are imperfectly-developed females. 



No. 306. — June 1890. 



Next she proceeds to old stumps and decayed 

 wood, from whence she nibbles away small fragments 

 of woody tissue by means of her strong mandibles, 

 these she carries home in the shape of small rounded 

 pellets, then she masticates them thoroughly, mingles 

 them with glutinous saliva, and finally succeeds in 

 manufacturing a strong kind of paper. 



The wasp is thus the first paper manufacturer on 

 record ! 



And now my first contrast with the hive-bee might 

 be made. 



" A lucky person," it is said, " is born with a silver 

 spoon in his mouth." The queen-bee is in this happy 

 state, from birth to death she does no stroke of work ; 

 when ushered into the world she finds herself 

 surrounded with troops of servants and friends, 

 who administer to her enormous appetite, keep the 

 hive warm or cold, build the cells, supply the food, 

 and tend upon the young. 



The sole business of the queen is to lay eggs ! But 

 the queen-wasp is far differently circumstanced : she 

 has to work hard all the day long. The first use she 

 makes of the paper she has just manufactured is to 

 twist it into a strong cord, and fix it firmly to the 

 roof of her abode, then she makes a cell at the other 

 end of the cord, around which she proceeds to build 

 many other cells, and in each of these she lays an egg. 

 In due time the eggs are hatched, and footless grubs 

 emerge ; these pass through the larva and pupa 

 stages, and at length a young colony of wasps, ready 

 and willing to work, is started. 



Henceforth the queen leaves the nest no more. 



The wasp exhibits as much ingenuity in making 

 her combs of paper, as the bee does with her wax, but 

 they start on a different footing : the bee is more 

 highly favoured by nature, than her cousin — the wasp. 

 She (the worker) is endowed with wax-secreting 

 glands, which are situated between the joints of 

 her abdominal harness. It may be of interest to 

 mention that these glands were discovered by a 

 French peasant in 176S, previous to which date all 



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