Wasp nest lifecycle - the common wasp & the German wasp.

The two types of wasp that are found in the UK are the common wasp (Vespa Vulgaris) which is found in much of the northern hemisphere. The common wasp nest is built from chewed wood to create a kind of Paper Mache, which is strong and lightweight. The common wasp nest is normally built underground in disused mammal burrows, but often they choose buildings, hollow trees, just about anywhere that is dry.

The common wasp (nicknamed “Jaspers”) is about 17-20mm long. The queen wasps emerge from hibernation in the spring having over wintered somewhere dry and protected from the winter elements (often in lofts and sheds). The queen finds a suitable location to start a new nest (often people think wasps re-use old nests, but this is not the case) and using wood fibers chewed and mixed with saliva she starts to build her nest.

The wasp nest starts off with 20-30 cells before the main egg laying starts. The queen creates a single cell at the end of a petiole, six more cells are then added around this to create the hexagonal shape of the nest cells.

An inside view of a wasp nest

Once the eggs have hatched they become worker wasps and take up most of the day to day running of the nest, from foraging for food, brood care of young wasp larvae, nest building and maintenance.
As you can see from the following photos, the nest is quite a complicated but efficient structure, but is very delicate and needs daily attention to keep the nest in top condition.

The following picture illustrates how the wasp larvae are contained within the brood cells, when ready they spin a silk cap over the top of the cell, ready to pupate into adult wasps.

The following picture shows the different stages of the development of a wasp's life. The queen lays an egg, which grows into a small larva, the larvae grows to full size when it then pupates into an adult worker wasp.

The last image shows how the nest is layered, also in its proper orientation (cells pointing downwards).

Each wasp nest or colony includes one queen and the rest are sterile worker wasps. At the end of the summer, new queens and fertile male drones are produced and after mating these new queens hibernate through the winter ready to start a new nest and colony the following spring.

The second type of wasp that is commonly found in the UK is the German wasp (Vespula Germanica) or also known as the European wasp.
The German wasp nest is built much the same way as the common wasp nest, but instead of building their nests in the ground or in buildings, the German wasp nest is generally found close to the ground or in bushes and trees. The nest structure is the same as the common wasp nest.

The lifecycle is the same as the common wasp, with one queen and sterile worker wasps taking care of daily duties such as nest building, repair and foraging for food.
The European wasp is slightly larger than the common wasp and collects a variety of insects to feed its larvae. The adult wasps feed on nectar and sweet fruits, also attracted to meats and food waste along with sweet drinks, which is why they are often found in pub gardens later in the summer months. This is the time of year when wasps are most likely to sting, having fed on fermenting and over ripe fruits, the effects of which produce “drunken wasps”.

How many wasps are there in a nest?

Common wasps can produce nests that by the end of the summer (August/September) can reach a population of up too 10,000 or more occupants per nest.
The German wasps produce nests that can hold up too 3000 individual wasps.
Please take a look at our page: how can I tell that I have a wasp nest?

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The wasp nest and lifecycle of the common wasp and German wasp

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