WASPS, SOCIAL AND SOLITARY 



blew it over the hole so that they could not enter, at least 

 one hundred collected, many of them settling in the false 

 nest; when we lifted the green paper, leaving the hole 

 free, only three or four entered, but when we put it back 

 in place they rushed in six or seven at a time. It was 

 plainly the color that directed them. 

 ■ This was a nearly rainless summer, — a condition 

 extremely favorable to wasp development. Nests multi- 

 plied and grew until the whole country-side complained, 

 and no wonder, for houses were full of them, and at meal- 

 times they gathered at the table with the members of the 

 family. How did they know when dinner was ready ? 

 It could not have been by the sight, unfamiliar to them, 

 of cooked food ; was it, then, through the sense of 

 smell ? 



Many were the questions that we asked in vain of 

 our Vespas, but here was one that they could readily 

 be made to answer. We rolled up two bundles, one of 

 nothing but gauze, and another, like it in appearance, 

 but containing some warm chicken bones ; these were 

 laid to one side of the nest, the color of the gauze 

 matching that of the paper on which it was placed. 

 The wasps in returning to the nest, even though loaded 

 with food, could not resist the appetizing odor, and 

 settled thickly upon the bone bundle, trying their best 



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