Wasp Nest

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 It's that time of year when the wasps are about on the fallen fruit in the orchard. I stumbled upon this wasp nest in a rabbit hole in the meadow. It looked as if some brave animal had been trying to dig it up. A badger would be a likely culprit.

There are an unbelievable 7000 species of wasp in the UK. Only nine of these species are nest building and it is the social not the solitary wasps that build nests. Wasps will build nests just about anywhere. The roof of my shed has been a favourite in the past.  
In the Spring the queen wasp comes out of hibernation and starts to look for a nesting spot. The queen builds using wood mixed with saliva. We often see wasps licking at our wooden garden furniture. The queen moulds the nest into cells and lays eggs in the cells. The eggs hatch and become female worker wasps. The worker wasps then take on the task of nest building and food gathering while the queen then gets on with laying eggs.
Adult wasps eat only sugars (eg in rotting fruit) but kill lots of insects to chop up and feed their young. Wasps have a sting to subdue the insects that they kill. Wasps account for 14 million kilos of insect prey a year in the UK - without them we would be overrun with insects. Wasps (unlike bees) do not die once they have used their sting and can sting multiple times to kill prey or ward off threats. Wasps are "apex predators" and without wasps the ecosystem is out of balance. Remember that next time they spoil your Summer picnic!

Diary
A couple of foxes in the camera traps last night. I was aware of bats at dusk. I went down to look at our stream yesterday and it is still running dry.  I reckon it has been dry for the best part of three months this year which is the driest it has been in the 13 years we have lived here.



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