Do Wasps Stay in Their Nest Over Winter?
WouterWhether you’re a homeowner, business owner, or just like to look at insects, you might be asking, do wasps stay in their nest over winter? Wasps are a wonderful species of insects and are more important than you may realise. They are excellent plant pollinators and also eat aphids, a common pest.
The wasp’s year begins in the spring when the queen lays eggs. These eggs hatch into larvae that regurgitate insect food. In the summer, adult workers also use the nectar from flowers.
When the cold weather sets in, the queen wasp hibernates. She is able to find a warm place to hibernate and also finds a mate to help her through the winter. In some cases, the queen wasp dies from cold weather or predators. Other queens die of starvation.
When the weather warms up, the queen wasp searches for a new nest. She then lays eggs in a new nest cell. These eggs hatch into a new batch of wasps.
The workers then help the queen care for the eggs. They also help enlarge the nest and feed the larvae. The workers can survive for several months, but once the weather begins to get cold, they die off.
The male wasps die of starvation too. The queen lays the last of her eggs in her nest, and these become the fertile females that will produce the next queens. These female wasps then become active in the spring and will find a suitable winter home.
