Wasp nest

The Wasp nest is a fascinating piece of engineering, the queen wasp starts building the nest from scratch in the spring after she emerges from hibernation (You can read about the lifecycle of the wasp).

How Wasp Nests are made

The nest starts off small with a petiole and a single hexagonal shaped cell at the end of the petiole, then approx six more cells are formed around the centre one. Once the starter eggs have hatched out, the new worker wasps take over nest construction and leave the queen solely to lay eggs, this from now on is her primary function!

The queen also determines the “mood” of the nest, some are very aggressive, some are not so, it all depends on the individual queen. She emits a pheromone throughout the nest that signals to the workers that either everything is ok, or the nest is in danger etc.
The wasp nest is made from chewed wood, the worker wasps strip wood from fences and sheds and chew this wood into pulp, they mix this chewed wood with saliva to form a Papier Mache type material that they use to form the nest structure. The entire nest is formed of this material and is very delicate and lightweight.

wasp nest

English wasps (the common wasp) build their nests in almost any location, favourite places are lofts, sheds, old rabbit and vole burrows in the ground, inside air bricks, cavity walls, chimneys and just about anywhere that is dry and undisturbed.

The German (European wasp) build their nests in bushes, hedges and trees and although very camouflaged, once you find a nest it becomes very noticeable, resembling a large hanging grey football type object.

There is some debate over which type of wasp is the most aggressive, with some pest controllers saying that the German wasps are more aggressive and others stating that the English wasps are more aggressive. Quite possibly neither is more aggressive than the other, but in our experience the English wasps seem to be more likely to attack when their nests are interfered with, but caution should be taken when dealing with any type of wasp nest.

Hornet Nests are the same as wasp nests, they are made from the same material in the same way as wasps build their nests.

Hornet nest in loft

Do wasps re-use old nests?

Some people believe that Wasps and Hornets will re-use a nest year after year, this is NOT the case. Both wasps and Hornets build a new nest each year. Bees will use an old bee nest, but this is normally where an old honey comb has been left and there are some stores of honey still left in the comb.
Wasps and Hornets do not make honey or pollinate flowers and crops, they are predatory insects that predate on other insects to feed their young.