PAPER-MAKERS 169 



worker may alight on your hand and walk leisurely 

 over it, but will not sting unless some nervous 

 movement be made which alarms the wasp. 



We know that every man's hand is against the 

 wasp, and we imagine, therefore, that the wasp is 

 against every human being. The truth is that 

 the wasp is, from the human viewpoint, one of the 

 most useful and harmless of insects — spoiled plums 

 notwithstanding. The one great defect of the 

 wasp is that it does not store up honey or wax that 

 could be raided by man and turned to a profit 

 expressed in £ s. d. The unceasing good the wasp 

 does to man all the summer by destroying millions 

 of his insect foes does not count. The eyes of the 

 husbandman are blinded by ancient prejudice, 

 and he cannot distinguish between friends and 

 foes. We think it is extremely probable that if a 

 hive of honey bees and a nest of wasps could be 

 put in the opposite scales in which human interests 

 are weighed, it would be found that they were 

 pretty level. 



We have said little about the paper walls of the 

 wasp's nest, but it is important that they should 

 be described. Wasps, like bees and many other 

 highly organized insects, are very susceptible to 

 cold, and for the proper development of their 

 young it is necessary that their nests should be 

 kept at a moderately high temperature. The 

 presence of thousands of workers in a large nest 

 secures this, and movement of the air and ventilation 

 are effected by the vibration of innumerable wings. 



