THE SOCIAL INSECTS 



which local authorities in Britain have at times subsidised 

 (e.g. in Berkshire in 1901), paying school-children to collect 

 queen wasps, do not seem to be successful. In 1950, up to the 

 June 15, the Department of Agriculture for Cyprus destroyed 

 243,394 queens of the local species of hornet, paying rather 

 more than a farthing for each one brought in. Considerable 

 numbers were also destroyed by other interested parties. 

 Later in the same year the Department's officers destroyed 

 27,829 nests. This was one of the worst wasp years recorded! 

 Beirne, by comparing the occurrence of wasp years in 

 Britain with the meteorological record, has shown that an 

 important factor is the weather in April, May and June, when 

 the queens are establishing their first nests. Rain at that time 

 is very bad for wasps. Early warm weather followed by a 

 cold or wet spell is also harmful, since the queens all come 

 out of hibernation but are then unable to establish themselves. 

 Prolonged cold weather which merely prevents them from 

 leaving winter quarters is harmless. Nixon has maintained 

 that, apart from weather, the most important enemy of 

 wasps is other wasps. Suitable nesting-sites are usually not 

 sufficiently numerous and attempts at usurpation lead to 

 fights in which one or both queens may be killed. It is quite 

 common to find a dead queen lying in the tunnel leading 

 down to the nest. Other enemies are badgers which dig up 

 nests to eat the grubs : evidently their fur protects them from 

 stings. It is doubtful if this enemy is common enough to be a 

 serious check on numbers. 



WASPS IN BRITAIN 



There are five other species in Great Britain, all super- 

 ficially very like the two common wasps. One of them 

 is a parasitic wasp without workers and will be men- 

 tioned in Chapter 7. Another, the Norwegian wasp, builds 



56 



