TAKING NESTS 149 



We know the queen bee is produced by 

 special feeding and no doubt it is the 

 same with the wasps. The queen wasps 

 differ in size, though not as much as the 

 drones. 



After the first queen had come forth 

 others followed in quick succession and 

 the box was soon buzzing with a large 

 number of queens, drones, and workers. 



Taking a wasp's nest in the fall of the 

 year is not as unkind as it may appear, 

 since the workers and drones must soon 

 perish anyway, and even the last of the 

 eggs and larvae in the course of nature fail 

 to mature, and perish from cold in their 

 cells. When the wasps have been watched 

 for a few days and one's curiosity is satis- 

 fied, the kindly naturalist will allow the 

 captives their freedom, thus preserving the 

 queens to start new nests the next year. 

 The queens cannot mate in captivity, this 

 function being performed on the wing, and 

 they will not live the natural span of their 



