The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1890-10-03

insect and it, tiouse.
II wasp's nest Is laid bare In Noyem-
Der. three distinct kinds 81 wasps will
bc sren-small euters or workers, now
lew IN number. middle sized stinrless
males. and from two hundred 70 three
hundred large wasps. Tho latter arc
the queens o. fefiiliz,d mothers and
alone survive The winter. Some few OF
them remain IN the rest. but the greater
proportion of them hibernate In warm
aud sheltered spots. in hooks and cram
MES. in the thatch OF cottages or straw
ricks. With the bright sun OF March
they are revived 70 life and activity.
and then may be seen about every
hedge-bank. seeking for suitable hole
IN the ground, whore each may found q
vespiary or commonwealth. Having
chosen spot. the queen at once COM
menccs % scoop out the soil and carry
u away In her Jaws. and soon vaulted
chamber is made foot or more beneath
the ground Next she proceeds TO old
stumps and dccaycd woods. from whence
She nibbies small fragments Of woody
tissue by means Of her strong mandi-
hles- These She carries home in tho
form OF small rounded pellets. masti-
Gates them thoroughly. minglcs them
with clutinons saliva. and finally manu-
features strong kind Of paper.
Unlike tho queen bee. whose sole
business Is 70 lay eggs. the queen wasp
has 20 work hard all day long. With
the paper She makes she twists strong
cord. which Is fixed firmly 10 the roof OF
her abode. She then makes cell at the
other end Of the cord: around this She
proceeds 70 build many other cells. and
in each OF these she lays an egg. In duo
time the eggs are Matched. and footless
grubs emerge: these pass through tho
larva and pupa stages, and eventually a
young colony o. wasps is started. Hence
forth the queen leaves the nest no more.
The wasp exhibits as much ingenuity in
making her nest OF paper as the bee her
comb Of wax. but they start on a differ
cnt footing. The bee is furnished with
wax-scceting glands. but the wasp can
only obtain her building material by
hard work
According to Lord Brougham. both
bees and wasps are marvellous mathema-
ticians, since they have solved the prob
lem OF making perfect six-sided cells
with the least expenditure OF material;
but this, Mr.. Yates points out. is q
scientific fallacy. since. in the first
place, the cells are not strictly hexaQ-
onal. and in the second place the work
manship does not proceed from thought
and measurement but results from the
mutual pressure OF adjoining cells.
and thus tn, process is entirely
mechanical The combs OF bees are
arranged vertically. those Of wasps hor-
lion ALLY, and the reason Of this differ
ence is not far TO seek. bees collect
and store up honey. which, OF course,
would run Eway II the cells looked down
ward; but IS wasps collect no stores.
their cells may safely look downward.
Wasps clothe their vespiary with ten or
twelve layers OF paper. through which
NJ the lower end they leave two open
ings- one for entrance. the other for
exit. thus avoiding mutual collision.
The thick layers Of paper thoroughly
protect the comb from wind and rain.
whether on the ground or built in
bushes. When the nest has 10 be i'm
creased in size more soil is dug out and
carried away. and thus tho vaulted
chamber is enlarged; then the inner
layer q paper Is removed and utilized
for the enlargement OF the circumfer-
ence OF the comb. and for the fabrication
Of another and outer layer Of papcr.
Both wasps and bees possess the re-
markablc faculty Of altering the sex Of
their offspring al will by varying the
quality and quantity Of food admins
tered While bees obtain their food ex-
clusively from flowers. wasps get thcir
carbonaceous food partly from the nectar
Of flowers hut chiefly from the juices OF
fruit. and their heterogeneous nutrimcnt
from captured flies and other insects. as
we'll as from flesh. meats st. Louis
Globe Democrat