FINISHING THE NEST 117 



No sooner is the outer covering completed 

 than the combs have to be enlarged and 

 new tiers of them added. 



This enlarging is done by gnawing away 

 the walls from the inside, and adding layers 

 on the outside. Thus the space within is 

 increased without exposing the combs. 



There is never any connection between 

 the walls of the cells and the combs. 



The combs are suspended from supports 

 above, and hang free in the space formed 

 by the enclosing walls. 



When a comb has reached a certain size 

 the wasps do not continue to enlarge it, 

 but suspend another comb below it, fasten- 

 ing the new structure to the old by a stout 

 paper-pillar support in the centre, and this 

 is often reinforced by a number of side 

 supports. 



The wasps use the roof of the new 

 comb as a floor to the space above, and 

 indeed a wasp's-nest is but a series of 

 floors, or stages, suspended one below an- 



