Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-08-25
= WASP FIRST PAPER MAKER
Chews Up Pulp to Build No
Young Ones Help, Too.

| Among all the birds that come NJ
to us in the spring time the big VIII
headed hornet with the feverish al
| rlor is accorded the coolest welco
There are a few people who Like
study the hornet, to hang around
front porch of his little paper bud
low in the orchard and ask him. II
doth the little busy" etc. But d
people get this information by mist|
Mud is said to be good to use al
wards Bind it on the spot where
got the information, says the Del
NewsTribune.
But if you are set on thicking|
with the hornets and studying d
domestic economy, perhaps this is
best time of year to do it. The
years hornet when he first gets h
in the spring is not quite SO hilar|
as he later becomes. 1t would be n
appropriate to say "she," since only
| lady hornets survive the winter.
are first apprised of return by frid
ly call when you are lounging on
| porch some noon. She poiSeS on wi
which are going at the rate hit by
| motor on flying machine. At
season she seems to do an immd
amount of flying without getting 4
where. She takes this stand-still-a|
| fly position within about foot of /
| face and looks you in the eye. If |
| are nervous you say .Shoo' or SOD
thing like that. She shooes, mad
for your foot that hung over the i
of the hammock and infinitely exau|
ing the shine on your shoe within n
| lous proximity to the entrance to i
trousers feg. She is looking i'd
place to build a nest. If you keep !
nerve and do nothing to vex her,
will learn something about wasp ard
lecture that will be worth while.
| Madame Hornet does not concludd
build in your shoe. That was jusI
bluff. When she settles down to b
ness she picks out a retired spot In |
orchard, where she will not be
covered until her family, to the num
of several thousands, has grown up |
is able to have some fun with the \
| who come after apples in the fall q
she begins to build.
| she hikes off to some gray and n
ther-worn old fence and begins to !
| off her pulp-wood. The wasps are
original papermakers. They were
the grounds with a complete outfit
turning out a first-class product
good wood-fiber paper while men "
fussing around getting their wri4
| material out of tanned hides
| marsh reeds.
Mrs. Wasp chews up a chunk OF
to the proper consistency and plas1
| it on the limb of the tree she has cl1
| en- for her future home. This she
use as the basis for the little group
| cells which she next forms. She q
tracts the foundations of three
and lays an egg in each of them,
she is looking forward to having
in her house building. Then she gn
out paper enough to get a tempo
| shelter and gives her exclusive at
ton from then on to the care OF
/
dren. The eggs soon hatch and MO-
| Wasp keeps busy hustling for ME
feed them. The babes have good
petites and grow rapidly through
unpoetic grubby states which cha
teriZe the adolescence of all insects
til they one day find themselves
enough to uncap the cell in which
have been carefully sealed up.
But these young wasps don't ge'
swell head as soon as they can
themselves big enough to take can
| themselves. They don't tell their ID
| er that she is little too old-fashi
| for them and that they think they
start out and see little of the
| on their own account. No, they
| in and begin to enlarge the homes
| and incidentally keep an eye ou'
boys who may stray in the neisp
hood or invade the premises with
| tile intent.
They know how to chew pulp
as we'll as their mother did. How
learn is not very clearly under
for from the time they come to m'
ity the old lady never leaves the
giving her sole time to laying ana
ing for eggs and leaving outdoor
to the, youngsters.
Now the nest grows and grows
cells are built up and the outer
coating is put on in huge sheets
paper hornets nests have been
as big as a bushel basket. The :
the year Is the best time to collee'
nets nests. Most people do mo-
down the paper nests in the SUE
it is said to be hot job. 1t Is =
picking hornets nests to wai1
cool weather.