iWAS CALLED TO TWO ACTIVE WASPS NESTS TODAY, AND WAS AMAZED AT THE SIZE OF ONE WHICH NEARLY TOOK UP THE WHOLE CORNER OF THE LOFT.WHAT BAFFLED ME WAS THAT THERE WERE HUNDREDS OF WASPS CRAWLING ON THE OUTSIDE OF NEST, I HAVE TREATED NESTS BEFORE WHERE THERE HAVE BEEN COUPLE OF WASPS CRAWLING ON OUTSIDE OF NESTS, BUT NEVER THIS AMOUNT, IT WAS IF THE WHOLE COLONY WAS LIVING OUTSIDE NEST, ANY IDEAS.QUITE A SCARY JOB BUT ALL DONE
Males will congregate on the outside of a nest in their hundreds waiting for the mating flight to start. These are normally larger than the workers and have more defined yellow and black striped abdomen than the workers.
I have seen similar, much earlier, July/Aug. My take is that the reason why the nest is so large is the massive numbers of workers, hence the numbers seen on the outside, busy making the nest even larger. Perfect conditions lead to exponential growth.
huge wasps nest
Posted - 03 Oct 2006 : 14:38:26
