Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-11-15
WAsPs AS PAPERMAKERs.
Wonders of a Nest-Havoc BY the
Insects-Ways to Destroy.

Wonders OF Nest-1aVoc ny the
Insects-Ways to Destroy.
It is the last loving act Of the COM
mon wasps in every colony to elect a
certain number of their lady fellows
and go through the process of feed
ing them up" for a wasp queen earns
that title simply by reason Of her size,
and not because of any claim to aris-
tocratic descent. This feeding lasts
the queen wasps all the winter
through, during which time they HI
bernate in some warm corner out OF
the way of frost and snow, says the
Pail Mall Gazette.
About March they come forth once
more and proceed to look about for a
nesting place. Having chosen site
for this-generally in a hollow tree or
in some sheltered and sunny corner
among the dry rubbish-the queen
forms a cocoon Of wasp paper
wherein she constructs about dozen
cells and lays an egg in each. In due
time the eggs become grubs, and these
are feed assiduously by the queen
mother until they completely fill the
cell. The latter Is then sealed up, and
in a few days each grub, which mean
while has developed wings and legs,
and changed from white to yellow
and-black, emerges as a full-grown
wasp.
The real work of nest building now
begins, and the whole party go off to-
gether in search Of a convenient hole
in the ground for the permanent
headquarters. This, at least, is what
the common wasp does. There are
several varieties in Gre At Britain, and
some of them build on the branch OF
a tree or in the grass Of bank. the
little family works very hard to man
ufacture the material of which the
nest Is made-a wonderful substance
of the texture Of paper pulped up
from the bark Of trees in the wasps'
mouths. The wasp was making paper
from wood pulp for centuries before
man thought of it, This nest proper
contains a large amount of comb
and in each cell the queen lays an
egg.
Things now proceed apace, the
feeding Of the grubs and sealing them
up in their cells going on as before,
but the queen is now assisted In her
labors by her dozen or so original SUBJ
jects, and the others join in the work
as they hatch out. AS the summer
advances the nest gets stronger In
numbers until the very end OF the
season, and then some of the grubs
never see the light. A wasps' nest
may contain as many as 10000 wasps,
but an average nest would be about
half that number.
Wasps are such hard-working little
creatures that 1t seems a sin to destroy
their wonderful labor, for the nest Is
a triumph of architectural skill. AT
the same time, they commit such
havoc in orchards and are so trouble
some everywhere where food or drink
Is to be found that every mans hand
Is against them. They seldom sting
unless molested or touched by acci-
dent.
A certain amount Of good is done
by wasps in killing noxious insects,
especially house flies, but this one
good act is quite overbalanced by
their many deeds of evil. All sorts of
methods are adopted, therefore, to
destroy them at night time in their
nests, but the very best plan Of all is
to procure some cyanide of potassium
Ga deadly poison) from a chemist,
and place a teaspoonful within the
hole that leads to the nest, afterward
sealing the entrance with a sod OF
turf. Next morning every wasp Will
be dead, and the nest may be dug out
and destroyed, brood, comb and all.