They retain this memory from the first emergence of the odor, and build a template of the odor of the nest and its members. Each nest has a distinct odor. When a wasp encounters another, it knows if it is a nestmate or non-nestmate by comparing the pattern of hydrocarbons to its own template. It treats the encountered wasp accordingly, as a nestmate or non-nestmate. In the spring, female paper wasps, who were inseminated during the previous fall, build nests with cells on the eaves of barns, sheds, and other buildings.
Some females start nests by themselves.
They lay eggs in the cells and rear the first batch of workers to take over the colony chores. However, in some colonies a group of queens comes together to build a nest. The first round of brood becomes the first set of workers and takes over most of the chores. When the two wasp foundresses come together, there is an alpha individual, the highest ranked, and a beta individual, the lowest ranked. Alpha lays the most eggs.