2li HYMENOPTERA. 
eats only fruit, as we see such crowds of 
them round every fruit tree ? 
Mother, The vespa vulgaris, or com- 
mon wasp, is not only fond of fruit, and 
of every thing sweet, but of meat, and of 
insects too. Most of the wasps perish in 
the cold during winter, only a few queens, 
or females, escaping to produce a nation 
of wasps the following summer. The 
queen, or female wasp, if she cannot find 
a convenient hole in the ground, makes 
one, providing it with a winding pas- 
sage, by which to go in and out ; and in 
this hole she constructs about twenty 
cells, and lays as many eggs. 
Lucy. Only twenty ! a great many 
queens then must outlive the cold, to 
produce such quantities of wasps as are 
to be seen every summer. 
3Iother. She lays many more than 
twenty eggs ; but she begins by pro- 
ducing only that number ; and within 
three weeks, they pass throu<j:h the stages 
of larva and nymph, and come forth 
perfect wasps. By a wise provision of 
