Nature Diary and maths of the fishpond : wasps 7January 2011

When I wrote about wasps three days ago it was a very hot, humid day. The next day was raining - I noticed that there were far fewer wasps visiting the fish pond for water. I have also found out that the very large wasp is indeed a potter wasp and the reason that I only see one is that Potter wasps are quite solitary. I must find the nests now as this is one way of identifying the wasps. European paper wasps make their nests out of dried plant materials which they work into a mushy paper mache type material. The nests I have seen in the past in my garden and around the house hang upside down from a stalk. They make hexagonal shaped cells (the same shape as honey bees) which are not enclosed (if they are European paperwasps) and in these their lavae live and grow. Some wasps coat the stalk that their nest hangs from with a chemical that repels ants.

I have included part one and part 2 of a video on the Maths of the Honeycomb below.