Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1910-11-11
THE WASP.
Habits Of an insect That Never Quar-
reis When Lot Alone.

Habits OF an insect Inat NeVeT eudr
reis When Lot Alone.
Considering the insects universally
bad reputation, it is only natural tha'
he historian, while every ready to *
tol the virtues of the bee, has usually
| nothing complimentary to say ancnt
tho wasp. II is In fact only the true
born naturalist who Can discover any
thing moral in the Individual which
to the ordinary observer appears to
spend most Of its tim. in spoiiing the
rlums and apples in til" garden "ad
in pOking its interfering nose mt"
other peoples jam But in spite of its
| universal unpopularity the wasp ac-
tCally possesses quite as tractabie
nature as the much belauded be-
and so long az 1t is let alone it has
no quarrel with any one.
1t must, however, be admitted that
VaSrS when they appear in undue
nun bcrs are q disturbing factor in
mans tand Wunun's) existence and
as = conscqrchc. they have few
friends. 1t is pity that it should b"
50. but the wasp has only itself T."
blame for the almost universal hatred
that ii enjoys. If only the creature
would be content to mind its own
business all would b., well. Nature,
one believes. never intended it /" be
a holy terror t" grocer- and cnnfrc-
TONERS, a drHpuilcr of orchards,
s"ar"r of tiinid women folk and d
tiupirr of ginger beer-hut there it is.
The wasp. like the crst of US, II mere
lN mortal ANA is quit" unable to resist
I h" many temptations that bcS"t its
path through life .tnd 50 t. the
end Of the Ch.pntcr. on" SUPPOSE, tic
best that We shall be- able to sag Tor
the wasp is that it is IL fallen angel
with few rcdremins points to make
w for It's delinqu"ncI"s.
That of course is looking at the wasp
solely from mans point Of view, but at
home and Winding its own BUSINESS tn"
tireSolnc insect must be regarded in
Very different Hight. The greatest
part Of a Wa&p'S lif" is taken up with
TIL" most praiScworthy domestic occu-
nationS. and many of the little pccca
dillcrS it commits in the orchard and
the jam pot are prompted by I; desire
to prnrid" SuStcnancc for its helpless
brothers and sisters in the nursery at
home. And here every man may find
some redccming points in the wasp's
behavior, for in til" course of its duty
the insect is 4 useful scavcngcr Of I'M
s'clnly trilcS. and above All a destroy
or of flies ono OF tn" greatest pests
OF suffering humanity.
Tn" multitude. of Was,S Is not much
il. evidence before July. and some
tiincs, not until the following month,
but Ia" formation Of each colony be
gins in tho spring, when the mother
wasp. or queen, comes forth from her
winter hiding place and s"tS ont in
search uf n suitable site for her nest
When the sun shines brightly in March
OF April one may often see as many
as Il dozen queen WaSp$ in the course
Of an afternoon. each of them busy
gathcri2 honey for food from some
Towering shrub or lowering about the
crcNiccS of an old StoneWall or along
some sunny bank, obviously in search
of large hol" or crrvic" suitable FOR
a home but the mother wasp has many
| cncmicS-rain. spring frostS. garden
ctS. birds ana b"ys-and probably not
a tenth part Of the queens that sur
NiEc tn" winter are suffered to found
/
manages to evadc her foes till the be-
| ginning of Jun" will probably succeed
| Ill making a nest.
| These embryo nests, formed by the
mother wasp's unaidcd efforts arc
very different in appearance from
| those which in July or August we may
Dig out from hole in the bank. or
| more rarcl discover hanging from a
| branch or attached to the raftcr OF an
Iou'houS". The queen sets about her
task by collecting crude material
from some post or paling with her
Inandiblcs. Little by little she scrapcs
away the bark working if W into a
little ball which ut last she grabs
| firmly in her jaws ana carries away 10
IN" place she has chosen. Arrived
her" she liattcns out the pellet into i
small strip. fixing it with a glutinous
secretion to any suitable projection.
Tho operation is repeated over and
over again until three little straps of
paper, joined together in triangular
fashion, arc firmly fixed in place. ana
from the center Of these the wasp now
DtSlnS to work up small inverted
cup OF paper. which is the beginning
of the roof.
The construction of the latter has
not proceeded far before the queen
ocslhS to construct the first lavcr Of
cupS-Senerally four in numbcr-and
| IN each of these fixes an egg laid
apparently elsewhere and brought to
inc spot) glueing each egg in its place
70 prevent its falling out For as il
rs necessary to explain, the wasp does
not bulld her comb in the same man
her as the bee. The cells are in sim
st layers, and all point downward
instead of lying horizontally. back to
back as in the honeycomb. Day af-
ter day in this fashion hte queen wasp
lab"rs on, adding fresh LAYERS of coils