The typical mature paper wasp nest contains 20 to 30 adults and rarely more than 200 cells. Colony founding . Colonies are founded in the spring by inseminated, overwintered females. These foundresses are the late summer daughters of the previous year s queens. They have mated in autumn, then hibernated in groups or singly, secreting themselves in cracks and crevices of old logs, attics and barns.
Males never survive the winter, but their sperm do in the sperm sac of the overwintering female.
A queen thus has a constant supply of sperm without repeated mating. In late summer, well before the onset of cold weather, the queen stops laying eggs and adds no new cells to the nest. But eggs, larvae and pupae continue to develop and the adult population continues to grow as more offspring emerge. When egg laying stops the colony begins to show signs of decline and eventually dies off. The following spring, the overwintered, mated queens emerge from hibernation and construct new nests.