THE STORY OF A ^)(/' ASP'S NEST 



By JOHN J. WARD 



Author of "Some Nature BioSraphies," "Peeps into Nature's Ways," etc. 

 With Photographs by FRANCES PITT 



WHEN the cold nights and mornings 

 commence, trouble falls upon the 

 wasps' community. 0\er that 

 thriving city with its thousands of in- 

 habitants there literally comes a frost, a 

 as Shakespeare puts it, 

 may paraphrase from 



" killing frost " 

 and then we 



ENTRANCE HON. lo \ M sr Ol' THE COMMON WASP, 

 The nest itself is shown on the opposite page. 



Wolscy's famous speech and say of that 

 populous city, " Farewell, a long farewell, 

 to all thy greatness ! " 



From that hour things go wrong with 

 the busy throng. No longer is there a 

 continual traffic in and out through the 

 gateway, the only entrance to the city. 

 Only occasionally will a worker crawl 

 feebly out, and even then, instead of the 

 characteristic hurried flight, as on business 



bent, it probably comes to rest near the 

 entrance at any spot where the warm rays 

 of the sun penetrate. Even the sentinel 

 at the gate will now permit a mischievous 

 wood-louse to pass slowly by her and 

 enter that stronghold which has been so 

 long and bravely held against all comers. 



Within t h e 

 city things are 

 e\'en worse, for 

 many of the 

 \\orkers have 

 not returned, 

 and this alone, 

 in a community 

 where e\'er}' in- 

 dividual has his 

 specific w o r k 

 to perform, is 

 enough com- 

 pletely to dis- 

 organise mat- 

 ters. Here, for 

 example, are 

 hungry grubs, 

 or lar\'ae, that 

 need feeding ; 

 there, certain re- 

 jiairs are urgent, 

 the neglect of 

 which threatens 

 danger to the 

 frail structure 

 of the home ; but, worst of all, those 

 remaining in the city make no attemi)t 

 to meet the emergency. Under normal 

 conditions, by an extraordinary effort on 

 the ])art of every individual, the difficulty 

 \\'ould have been met, but now it is 

 different ; the inhabitants are content 

 to rest sluggishly amongst the cells — for 

 they have lost heart. 



This sharp and sudden frost is not alone 

 ^66 



