Teacher's Leaflet. 8oi 



(20). Do you know how the young wasp looks, and how the white 

 lining of the cells was made? 



(21). Do wasps store food to sustain them during the winter? 



(22). What happens to the wasps in the winter? 



(23). What is the food of the wasp? 



(24). Is the wasp nest used for the same family year after year? 



(25). Can you describe the beginning of this wasp nest? What sort 

 of a wasp made it and how large was it at first? 



(26). How do the wasps enlarge their nests? 



(2y). How do wasps benefit us? 



English lesson. — The life-history of a wasp which lived in this nest. 



Facts for the Teacher. — Both the yellow jackets and the black hornets build in 

 trees and similarly although the paper made by the yellow jackets is finer in texture. 

 The nest is made of paper made of bits of wood which the wasps pull ofif with 

 their jav/s from weather-worn fences or boards. This wood is reduced to a 

 pulp by saliva which is secreted in the wasp's mouth and is laid on in little 

 layers, which can be easily seen by examining the outside of the nest. These 

 layers may be of dififerent colors. A wasp will come with her load of paper 

 pulp and using her jaws and front feet for tools she will join a strip to the 

 edge of the paper and pat it into shape. The paper tears more readily 

 along the lines of the joining than across. The cover of the nest is 

 made in many layers of shell-like pieces fastened together and the outer layers 

 are water proof. The opening of a nest is at the bottom. Mr. Lubbock has 

 shown that certain wasps are stationed about the door as sentinels to give 

 warning on the approach of the enemy. The number of stories of combs in 

 a nest depends upon the age and size of the colony. They are fastened to- 

 gether firmly near the center by a central core or axis of very strong firm 

 paper, which at the top is attached to a branch or whatever supports the nest. 

 The cells all open downward, in this respect differing from those of the honey-bee 

 which are usually placed horizontal. The wasp comb differs from the honey 

 comb in that it is made of paper instead of wax and that the rows of cells are 

 single instead of double. The cells in the wasp comb are not for storing 

 honey, but are simply the cradles for the young wasps. These young wasps 

 are footless grubs which cling to the cell by means of a disc-like organ 

 at the rear end of the body, and they also can hold on by their jaws. 

 There are in the nest usually three sizes of cells; in the smallest ones 

 are reared the workers, in the next larger the drones, while the queens are 

 developed in the largest of the cells and these are often made longer by a 

 projecting cap. The cells are lined with white silk, and the caps of the cells 

 are also made of the same material. The silk is spun by the larva before it 

 changes to a pupa. While wasps are very fond of honey and other sweets 

 they are also fond of animal food and eat a great many insects. As no food is 

 stored for feeding the family during the winter all wasps excepting the queens 

 die of the cold; the queens crawl away to some protected place and seem to be 

 able to withstand the rigors of winter, and each queen when she comes oiit in the 

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