The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-02-10
PAPER MAKERS
A Short Story Of the Wasp and
It's Habits.
An Industrious Insect That Builds with
inttnis" SIKH and Does Not 1.-Two
20 Enjoy the Fruits OF
It's I.abors.

"Wasps were the first papcr-rnul;crs,"
said an cutomologist to u writer for the
Washington Star. 1T is very interest
ing to study the ways of these fierce lit
tie insects For the sake of Il crab at
the honey store Single individual will
sometimes face whole hive of bees,
being in IL fair combat Il match for any
three inhabitants of the apiary. Most
OF us have had experience of the fear
lcssncss with which they will attack
human beings.
"Thc wasp spends the winter in n
torpid condition, and when spring ar
rives She hunts up some sort of shell
tered spot appropriate for Il nest. \
mouse hole serves her purpose excel
lently. Having selected the retreat,
she proceeds to lay within it the foun-
dation of n home that is destined be-
fore long to afford quarters for a large
and busy family. For this obicc. earth
will not serve her turn. The substance
of which the walls and chambers of the
house arc TO be composed must he none
other than the finest paper, made Of
wood pulp. mixed with Il sort of sizing,
worked to paste and finally spread in
to sheets.
ION any fine day in springtimc YOU
may catch sight of wasp earnestly at
work with its jaws upon an old fence
paling or window frame. In this man
ncr she gets together bundle of wood
raspngs, which she carries into the
hole she has selected, thcrcupon llncad-
ing it into paste and preparing it prop
crly for her purpose. With this mate
e
she suspcnds horizontally. and not, like
the combs of beehive. in vertical
position. The terrace is sort of hang
ing floor, secured to the roof by strong
paper rods. 1t is circular, and is com
posed of an immense number Of cells
made of paper and almost of the same
size and form as those of honcy-comb,
each being perfect hcNagon. These
cells, however, are never used as hon
ey pots by wasps, as they are by bees,
Tor wasps make no honey, and the cells
are only utilized for nursery purposes
in other words, us rooms in which the
young are reared.
when the old lady wasp has com
plctcd certain number of cells and de-
posted eggs in them she stops building
in order to procure honey from the
flowers whcrcwith to feed the Young
wormliEc Larvae which have been Matched
from the eggs. In 4 few weeks these
little grubs become perfect wasps and
lend their assistance in the extension of
the edificc, forming another platform of
cells suspended from the first by col
umns. So it continues, and by the end
OF summer the housc-pcrhaps it might
be better called a town-of hanging ter
races is completed, and the descendants
OF the original foundrcss may number
as many as thirty thousand.
Scarcely has the nest arrived at COM
plction through the labors OF the young-
est generation of its inhabitants, when
the carly frosts OF autumn begin to thin
their numbers When November comes
the wasp population is cut off by
pcstilcncc. OF those abroad some fall
far from their habitation: others crawl
back to die, while those at home, lately
SO busy in the work OF building, repair
ing, or keeping in order, are now Slug
gish and inactive. In little while the
city of terraces becomes a city of the
dead. Its sole surviving dwcllers arc
two or three females, on whom depends
the perpctuation of the race. They pass
the winter in n torpid state, and when
the early warmth of spring awakcns
them they wander off, each on her own
way. to found another colony