FINISHING THE NEST 111 



all. Another, his as eight days in the ^gg, 

 twelve or fourteen in the larval state, ten in 

 the pupal, — thirty-one or thirty-two days 

 in all. As a rule, it probably takes about 

 a month to complete the development. 



All of the wasps hatched early in the 

 season are workers, and as soon as they 

 come out of their cells they prove their 

 right to the name, for they take upon 

 themselves the whole work of the nest. 



The queen can now devote her time to 

 egg-laying, for the young workers clean 

 out the cells and make them ready to 

 receive another set of eggs. They also 

 enlarge the comb by building more cells. 



They fly to a weather-beaten rail-fence 

 or to an old stump, and there they stand 

 and gnaw lengthwise of the grain until 

 they have a little ball of wood-fibre, with 

 which they fly home. They chew it 

 thoroughly, wetting it with their sticky 

 saliva, and then proceed to shape it into 

 more cells. 



