258 NATURAL HISTORY OF WASPS. 
closely, we shall find reason to change the opinion 
which we had hastily taken up. And the double 
calamity, the loss of the nest and the loss of the 
queen, opens two distinct branches of inquiry. First, 
we find that the nest, as rebuilt, resembles the former 
nest only externally. And next, the swarm without 
its queen, however strong, and fierce, and industrious 
it may be, contains within itself no bond of perma- 
nent union. 
And first with regard to the nest :—= 
As soon as the irritation and confusion consequent 
on the removal of the nest have subsided, the 
instinct of the surviving wasps resumes its sway, 
and they set about making a new nest, either on the 
site of the old one, or in its immediate neighbour- 
hood. This process may be repeated as many as 
three or four times, according to the strength of the 
‘swarm and the habit of the particular species. As 
fast as one nest is removed or destroyed it is replaced 
by another nest. Each of these successive nests 
bears more than a mere generic resemblance to the 
original structure; the peculiarities of the preceding 
nest bemg in some sort reproduced. They do not 
however pass through all the same stages as the 
original fabric in their development. For they are 
built up at once, on the scale, and outside plan, of 
that which has been removed. And this fact neces- 
sarily involves some important differences in the 
details of their construction. For instance, the upper 
part or crown of the nest is not made of the remains 
of older structures worked into each other, but of 
distinct sheets of paper, closely applied one over the 
