WASP ARCHITECTURE 133 



All wasps' nests are able to resist mois- 

 ture to quite an astonishing degree, be- 

 cause of the glue-like saliva with which 

 the building materials are welded together 

 and with which the nest is sometimes 

 varnished over. 



The strength of paper depends largely 

 upon the length of the fibres of which it 

 is made, and Vespa, using very friable 

 materials, makes them as serviceable as 

 possible by gnawing the wood lengthwise 

 of the grain, instead of cutting it up into 

 sawdust. Thus she is able to convert 

 wood into a paper that holds together as 

 long as she needs it. 



In late years the wasp's secret of making 

 paper from wood-pulp has been discovered 

 by man, and truth to tell, the product he 

 supplies is sometimes little better than wasp 

 paper in strength or appearance. Some 

 consider the wasp paper far the prettier. 



Since Vespa builds her habitation of 

 paper which she herself manufactures, and 



