Where and how wasps overwinter: places, hibernation, features and danger

Wasps often build a nest under the roof of a house in a summer cottage, in a basement or on a balcony. This causes a lot of inconvenience and is dangerous to health, because a swarm can attack, sting and spoil food. It is difficult to cope with this scourge in the summer; the wasp brotherhood does not sleep and fights back anyone who tries to attack their home. And with the onset of cold weather, the nest becomes empty. To drive away dangerous insects once and for all, you need to figure out where wasps spend the winter and whether they will return to their home after winter. Should an empty nest be destroyed?

Description and features

The wasp is brightly colored.
The pattern on her body is an alternation of black areas with yellow stripes on the body, as well as a pattern of the same color on the head and six legs. Usually the bright color of insects in nature often indicates that this creature is poisonous. Wasps are often the name given to all stinging flying insects belonging to the suborder Stalk-bellied insects, with the exception of bees.

All wasps in the photo look the same, just like in real life, but they may differ in size. They have four transparent wings arranged in pairs. In addition, they have a very powerful mouthparts and faceted eyes, which provide the insect with excellent vision.

Coarse hairs can be observed on their paws, allowing such creatures to grip and hold on to a variety of surfaces.

This insect has two ways of fighting against the enemies that the wasp has in nature: mammals, birds, lizards and others.

First of all, the bright colors themselves provide powerful protection. It frightens the enemy, and hunters of various stripes, hungry for prey, lose their appetite when they look at the wasps. It’s just that their color causes unpleasant associations in many living creatures.

But even if one of the predators foolishly attempts to feast on such an insect, after the first misfire, their desires completely disappear. It's just that the sensations are not very pleasant. Therefore, subsequently, enemies stop making attempts to hunt wasps, having developed a warning reflex in themselves.

But in addition to passive methods of protection, these insects also have active methods. And their poisonous sting helps them in this - an autonomous organ, similar to a dagger blade in appearance and principle of action.

It freely penetrates under the skin of the animal, and also comes out without difficulty, having previously injected its portion of poison. This organ is located at the end of the abdomen, like a bee, because it is an insect very similar to a wasp , also capable of stinging.

But the bites of these two poisonous creatures have a number of differences, primarily for themselves. Unlike bees, who die after using their sharp weapon at least once and leaving it in the enemy’s body, wasps remain alive.

When a wasp stings, it does not leave a sting, unlike a bee.

Moreover, they feel great after a bite and are quite capable of making a new attack. In addition, wasps are endowed with the ability to use not only stings, but powerful jaws when attacking. But, like bees, these insects, sensing the smell of poison released by a fellow insect into the enemy’s body, will certainly enter into battle, collectively attacking the object that caused the alarm.

Externally, these insects are certainly similar, but it is not very difficult to distinguish them even by color. If the wasp is yellow and black, then the stripes on the bee’s body have a slightly different hue, with the addition of orange tones.

Pictured is a wasp and a bee

Meaning in nature

Why are wasps needed in nature, what significance do they have in human life? There is a preconception that they cause great harm. It is assumed that the main purpose of this aggressor is to sting a person. If we compare wasps and bees, no one will dispute that the benefits of the latter are invaluable. Their healthy honey is a storehouse of health. Its value outweighs the harm caused by bee stings. Bee venom is known to be beneficial in moderate doses. For example, it is used in the treatment of joint diseases. In all respects, these are very necessary insects.

Lifestyle and habitat

Wasps can be found almost everywhere, in almost every corner of the planet, with the exception of areas that are particularly unsuitable for life. They prefer to settle close to humans, because in the immediate vicinity of people and their homes there is always something to eat.

Now it's time to talk more about the social structure inherent in paper wasps. It is these representatives of the diversity of species already described that should be given special attention, because when they talk about wasps, they usually mean wild social wasps. Although this is not entirely correct.

The groups in which these insects gather to live together are close-knit families called colonies. They can have up to 20 thousand members. In such families there is a clearly established social structure and division into castes with a certain range of responsibilities.

The uterus is engaged in breeding offspring. Worker wasps look after the larvae, feed the rest of the family and guard the common home. The queen builds a nest out of a paper-like material.

It is produced naturally by wasps themselves, by grinding wood and mixing the material with their own saliva. Powerful jaws help these creatures build nests.

With these, the queen is capable of finely grinding hard wood. Worker wasps and drones are on average about 18 mm in size, but the queen of these insects is slightly larger. Males and females are approximately the same color, but females have a slightly larger abdomen. Single wasps may not build nests, but use burrows made by other insects and small rodents.

Enemies

Wasps are killed ahead of time by insecticides used by humans to combat various agricultural and forest pests, directly against wasp families. Among the main enemies of common wasps are hornets, as well as some species of birds. In autumn, inactive insects are eaten by animals, spiders, and large beetles.

The lifespan of the wasp family also depends on weather conditions. Nests and hives are destroyed by floods, forest fires, and premature frosts. A wasp can live genetically for a long time, but in practice the lifespan is shortened several times.

There are a huge number of wasp species in the world, which differ in lifestyle, behavior and appearance. They can be divided into two groups, which determine the main characteristics - social and solitary wasps. These insects have become a familiar environment during the warm season. They can be annoying and often aggressive, which is why people find such a neighborhood unpleasant. How long wasps live depends on their position in the family hierarchy. Working individuals die quickly, but queens live longer.

Where does the wasp live?

Representatives of wasps are widespread throughout the world. They can easily be found in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Europe, Africa, Argentina, Canada, Mexico, Australia, China, Japan. Such animals do not live only in the hot Sahara, the Arctic and the Arabian Peninsula. Wasps prefer a temperate climate and cannot exist in regions that are too hot or too frosty.

Interesting fact: A very dangerous species of wasp lives in Japan and China - the Asian hornet. Its size can reach six centimeters. One bite of such an insect is quite enough to kill a person, especially if he is allergic. According to statistics, up to fifty people die every year from the sting of the Asian hornet in these countries.

Most representatives of wasps live in the Northern Hemisphere. Only a small population can be found in Brazil. These insects choose their habitat according to several criteria: temperate climate, presence of trees, humans. The thing is that the human habitat makes it easier for wasps to get their food. The tree is used for building nests and raising larvae. Some individuals build homes from clay and pebbles. Their nests look very much like small castles.

Removal methods: how to get rid of wasp nests?

The fight against pest insects such as wasps is a delicate matter that requires diligence and care. Removing it yourself is extremely problematic. But it's real. Here are a few methods that may be effective.

1. Fire.
   Flame burning is a simple but unsafe method. In addition, the nest can be attached to plastic or wooden structures. The fire must be powerful so that the insects do not escape and begin to attack you. The optimal solution is to burn it with fuel and set it on fire. The nest will burn out quickly, but it is important to prevent a fire.
2. Water
   . Another mechanical method, which means drowning a wasp nest in water. Here, a lot depends on the location of the insects’ place of residence. If they are based on the roof, then the procedure will be more difficult: take a bucket of water and dip the nest in it, and you need to stay in this position for about a day.
3. Other methods.
   Alternatively, the hive can be knocked down with a long stick so that it falls into a previously placed bucket of boiling water. You can also use polyurethane foam or glue - fill the socket and be done with it. Another option is to throw a plastic bag over it and tie it tightly. The bag can then be burned or drowned. Fumigation with pine smoke, treatment with kerosene - there are many other folk methods for destroying wasp nests.
4. Chemicals.
   The most effective way to get rid of a wasp nest, but it should be done with great care. There are special insecticides - these are chemical preparations that are aimed at destroying all kinds of parasites. There are many means by which it is possible to quickly and effectively remove wasps.

Traps, which refer to insect baits, deserve special attention. The wasps will flock to the smell and die.

How to remove a wasp nest humanely?

The best option is to use a plastic bag, as mentioned above. The difference is that the package does not need to be burned or drowned, but simply move away to a sufficient distance and shake out the contents of the package. Strongly smelling substances, such as red pepper or some modifications of insecticides, work well.

The safest option for wasps is to simply wait until winter. During the cold part of the year, there are no wasps, so it is enough to simply separate the insects’ place of residence from the surface. The main thing is not to forget to treat the area with insecticides or other effective substances.

What kind of homes do wasps have?

An example of a social wasp's nest is the home of hornets, the largest stinging insects of the suborder Stem-bellied. The whole process begins with one uterus. Its task is to create a small ball where nests could be made for several working individuals.

First, the uterus creates one layer, moving from the center to the periphery. Under this layer she makes a leg to which several cells are attached. Eggs are laid in each of them. After this, the queen builds several tiers until new workers appear from previously laid eggs. The more workers appear, the more extensive the wasp’s jaws create a paper ball, and the queen, meanwhile, is engaged in her direct function - reproduction.

In biology, this group includes all insects belonging to the order Hymenoptera and the suborder Stalk-bellied.

The nests of the solitary wasp are very diverse. Thanks to the research of the famous insect behaviorist Jean Henri Fabre, the life of the burrowing ground wasp became known not only to scientists. These predatory wasps inject a paralyzing injection into the nerve center of a large spider, drag the poor thing into a hole, and then lay eggs on it. Soon the larvae emerge from the eggs and begin to eat the spider alive.

The flower wasp builds its cells somewhere in secluded places. Pill wasps (aka pottery wasps) make nests from earth and clay. It looks like a bandoleer for 3-4 rounds, which is hidden in the forest canopy. However, pottery wasps get along well with humans, disguising their cartridge belt on the walls of houses and even inside a person’s home.

Some wasps dig small shelters in plant stems. Finally, there are species that do not burden themselves with any construction work at all. They simply use natural depressions as their humble home.

What to do if bitten by a wasp?

The greatest chance of getting bitten is in mid-summer. Mature individuals feed on sweet fruits and berries, so you can most often encounter a dangerous insect in the garden. Only females inflict painful bites: the sting is an ovipositor modified in the process of evolution. The smooth weapon quickly moves out of the body, having delivered a blow, and just as quickly retracts back. Sometimes she is able to make several attacks until her poison supply is depleted.

Having removed the stinging weapon, the undamaged wasp flies away, unlike a bee, which has serrations on the sting that prevent it from being removed from the victim’s body, which leads to the death of the beneficial insect.

Wasp venom

Paper wasp venom contains:

• neurotoxins that can lead to suffocation, paralysis, and compromise blood pressure;
• hyaluronidase ─ destroys cell membranes, causing redness and itching at the bite site;
• histamine, which provokes an allergic reaction;
• acetylchonine, which affects the manifestation of nerve impulses, causes pain after a bite;
• Phospholipases ─ destroy the walls of blood cells and tissues.

The danger of poison is possible Quincke's edema, which is accompanied by difficulty breathing. Anaphylactic shock caused by a bite, without urgent medical intervention, can be fatal.

Immediately after being bitten you should:

1. Rinse the wound thoroughly.
2. Disinfect the bite site with peroxide, alcohol, soap or furatsilin.
3. Apply a cold compress.
4. Take an antihistamine. The product will help relieve swelling, itching, and burning after a bite.
5. Lie down and drink plenty of fluids.

Hot tea and sweetened water will help restore strength and neutralize the effect of poison on the body. Swelling from a bite can last from several hours to several days, accompanied by an increase in temperature. The victim must be monitored constantly. At the slightest sign of an allergic reaction, provide emergency medical care. You can neutralize the effect of wasp poison with the juice of parsley, lemon, or dandelion milk.

The victim of such insects needs to promptly cool the bite site with ice or a wet towel. Plantain helps a lot in such cases. Its leaves are first washed, then crumpled and applied to the affected area. Such compresses should be changed from time to time, and then painful redness and swelling usually disappear quickly.

How social wasps overwinter

The usual wasp nest is a summer house, which becomes empty with the onset of cold weather. Where wasps hibernate in winter and how they do it depends on the type of insect. The most common and well-known are social wasps, or as they are also called, paper wasps. Their family practices division into castes, with the fertile female at the head.

The largest number of insects of this species appears in mid-summer, when vegetables and fruits ripen, a stable warm temperature is maintained outside, and there is an abundance of food. However, with the onset of cold weather, around mid-autumn, wasps disappear from their nests and are not active in the wild.

The main question is whether these insects fall asleep or die, where they can go.

Wintering of wasps requires females to search for suitable places and does not provide for the storage of food supplies or the construction of special shelters. Wasps overwinter in nature under rotten stumps, in abandoned hollows, and under the bark of trees. Domestic inhabitants who set up nests under the roof of outbuildings, in attics, on balconies, hide in cracks for the winter.

Will wasps return to a hive under a roof in the spring?

Regardless of where wasps spend the winter, with the onset of warm weather they need a home where they will live, where a new generation will be born and grow. Singles find a suitable place and arrange their home themselves. The queen begins to build a house for the future colony. At first, the nest consists of only a few cells where the queen lays her eggs. But gradually the nest grows, and when the first generation of worker bees grows up, the construction process accelerates significantly.

There is an opinion that wasps never return to old nests, but most often build new ones in familiar and familiar territory - in the same barn, on the veranda or under the roof of the house. However, many of those who live outside the city are ready to argue with this statement, claiming that they have more than once noticed how insects return to their former homes in the spring.

Variety of species

The wasps that are familiar to most of us and have yellow and black stripes on their bodies are called paper wasps. This species name is due to the fact that the material from which insects build their homes is very similar to paper. It is made from wood fibers chewed by arthropods, which are glued together with saliva.

Other types of wasps have different colors. The size of the insect depends on its species. They range from 1.5 cm to 10 cm. What do wasps eat? The adult eats mainly liquid food - nectar, fruit juice. For their larvae, wasps get: flies and other insects. Predatory wasps themselves eat insects, and can also feed on other types of food.

The wasp catches its prey and injects its poison into it through its sting, which does not kill, but only paralyzes. Thus, the meat of the prey is kept fresh until the time of the meal.

Different types of wasps live almost everywhere. For example, ground wasps choose soil to build their “homes”. Paper wasps build their “family nest” under a tree branch or on any structure. It should be noted that wasps are very willing to settle near people. This proximity makes it much easier for them to find food. The wasp eats sweets and other foods left in a visible place in a person’s home. But also, it catches pests there such as flies, which carry various infections and thereby brings benefits. In the garden, wasps can find not only flies and ants, but also a huge number of insects that are pests. Wasps love honey very much and therefore pose a threat to bees.

The queen is the largest individual of the paper wasp family. The length of its body is approximately 20 millimeters, while the body length of a working wasp or drone is about 18 millimeters. Females have a larger abdomen than males. Insects do not differ in body color by gender. Males and females have the same yellow and black striped color.

Reproduction

The future queen builds a honeycomb, in the cells of which she lays eggs. After a few days, carnivorous larvae appear, demanding meat food. During this period, the female is actively engaged in the destruction of tree pests; they serve as food for the growing larvae. The first wasps are sterile females and will assist the queen in caring for the next generation and building the nest.

In August and September, young queens and males will appear ready to mate for reproduction. After fertilization of females, most males die. Old queens that have lost the ability to lay eggs will not survive the second winter. They will die along with the workers. Among the many species of paper wasps, there are females whose life cycle is 2-4 years. They enter a state of winter sleep several times.

Information. What do wasps eat in winter? Before the onset of cold weather, females try to accumulate more nutrients in the body. After entering diapause, they become so passive that they survive the winter due to accumulated substances.

Birth and nest construction

Wasps are not noticeable in winter and early spring, but with the onset of stable warmth, the first scouts fly out. These are future queens who, since last autumn, have been storing in their bodies the sperm of the males who fertilized them. Insects look for the first flowers to feed on nectar. The young female will have to fulfill the main function of her life - to give birth to a new family. She finds a suitable place and begins building a nest. The material is chewed tree bark, generously moistened with saliva. After drying, the substance becomes like thick paper.

What do they eat in summer

The diet and feeding habits of larvae and adults differ significantly. Thinking about what wasps eat, you might think that they are omnivores, but this is a mistaken opinion. There are quite a lot of things that wasps eat and will never touch. Moreover, they are quite picky when it comes to nutrition.

The most constant food for insects is fruit and berry juice, which ripens during the period of their activity. Such nutrition is the main source of energy. In addition, wasps love the insides of berries and are able to leave behind only the skin. This applies to plums, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and grapes.

Representatives’ favorite products are also:

• Sugar;
• Honey products;
• Fruit varieties of jam;
• Sweet syrups.

In turn, the larvae feed exclusively on protein tissues, that is, other insects. Suitable for feeding and development of future offspring:

• Slug;
• Butterfly;
• Spider;
• Caterpillar;
• Cockroach;
• Bedbugs and other insects.

Important! If there are hives with bee families nearby, there is a danger of the striped workers being destroyed by predators.

Main distinguishing feature

The life of a wasp depends on whether it is a social or solitary individual. Already from the name it becomes clear that the former live in families, and the latter – separately. This division exists in all numerous insect species. Each single individual has the opportunity to reproduce. In the family, only the uterus continues the family line.

Solitary wasps prefer not to live in large groups. They mate and then lead a solitary life. Paper single females build their nest. In each cell, in addition to the laid egg, the female places a supply of food for the impoverished larva. These are small insects and spiders paralyzed by poison. Having filled the cell, the female seals it.

The larva eats the supplies prepared by the caring mother and develops inside the cell. When it reaches maturity, it gets out of the nest on its own. Young insects fly away in search of a place to build their own “home”.

Nutrition

Wasps are predatory insects, although they are known to have a “sweet tooth.” You should not leave bowls of jam on the summer veranda after drinking tea; wasps will certainly discover this gift and fly here for a new portion. Wasps can lick nectar from flowers, or they can also snack on smaller insects.

And yet, one has only to remember the wasp-rider, and doubts about predation will disappear. This wasp looks for a well-fed caterpillar, sits astride it (like an equestrian), pierces the skin with its ovipositor and lays eggs in the body of the victim.

Later, the larvae will be provided with food, that is, this very caterpillar. Some wasps choose beetles instead of caterpillars. The Pepsis wasp (road wasp) even tracks spiders, attacking them, sometimes even in their own home, and lays its eggs in the body of this spider.

By the way, cicadas, which are larger than wasps, also feed the larvae. They are simply walled up in a cell with an egg and when the larva hatches, it will not starve.

Aggressive insect

The peculiarity of the structure of the ridge allows the head to move very well. The mouthparts of an insect are of the gnawing type. It is designed to grind food and wood fibers used in the construction of honeycombs. Stripes have a serrated sting, which does not have a knot at the end, but the serrations are smaller than those of a bee.

Only females have a sting. After all, in essence, it is an ovipositor, through which, if danger arises, the “minke whale” can also spray poison. But wasps are quite aggressive and prefer to attack first. Females quite often use the sting for purposes other than its intended purpose.

Nature dictates that the bright yellow-black color makes the insect very noticeable and thereby warns other animals that its owner is poisonous. The minke whale stings and bites its opponent. Although the bites are less painful than the venom released by the stinger.

It should be borne in mind that minke whales attack at the slightest disturbance - this demonstrates how dangerous they are to their enemies. When biting, it does not leave a sting in the body of its “victim”, as bees do. Therefore, insects do not die after being stung. They may repeat the attack again.

It is very important to know that the venom of the striped insect has a smell. If one wasp stung and another was nearby, it will smell the poison and fly to the aid of its “relative.”

It is especially dangerous to disturb a formidable arthropod near its home. Then the whole family can attack. It’s not for nothing that there is a saying “to stir up a hornet’s nest,” which implies major troubles.

Wasp eye model

Scientists have managed to construct an optical device that replicates the abilities of a wasp's eye. This is a 280 degree viewing system. Experts plan to install the unique device on aircraft, military equipment, and robots for various purposes.

The design is at the stage of improvement. Experts plan to replicate the exact model of a wasp's eye. Insects have 3 photoreceptors - near ultraviolet, blue, green, allowing them to see at relatively long distances. The wasp quickly detects movement thanks to the flickering light.

Causes of wasps

Wasps in the house can appear for various reasons, among which it is worth highlighting the most important:

• They can be lured by various foods - meat, fish, fruits, sweet foods;
• A warm and comfortable place to locate your nest;
• Nesting for the purpose of overwintering. These insects often fly to private homes in the fall to spend the winter. Everyone knows that insects die in severe frosts;
• They can get into the house by accident. Often these creatures enter the house accidentally, for example, in search of food or water. If one wasp flies into it, then soon a whole swarm will live there.

Knowing these reasons will help make the process of controlling these insects easier. It is enough to simply create conditions in which these creatures will not be able to live.

Wasp life cycle, lifestyle

Everyone has encountered wasps at least once and is well aware of their aggressive nature. The insect, without hesitation, will attack first if it senses danger. Predators are capable of not only stinging, but also biting with their jaws, which in itself is less painful. The family also has a herd instinct. If there are wasps nearby that sense the poison, they will come to the rescue and help attack.

The entire short life cycle of insects can be divided into several stages:

1. Birth and arrangement of the nest. With the arrival of warmth, the queen begins to nest to give life to a new generation;
2. Reproduction. After laying eggs, fertile males and females emerge, ensuring further reproduction.

Every gardener, knowing why wasps are needed, will say that wasps only get in the way, because they spoil the fruit harvest, attack people and animals, and feed on the leftover sweet foods from the table. But they also destroy other pests that attack garden plots. In addition, they pollinate plants, which is also important.

Do wasps die in winter?

In autumn, when the air temperature steadily drops, wasps gradually begin to disappear. They no longer circle over sweet fruits hanging on trees or fly into houses. The thing is that most of the adult individuals die with the onset of cold weather, and the remaining ones hide in secluded corners until spring.

To understand why this happens, we need to take a closer look at the process of wasp reproduction. All summer the queen reproduces sterile worker wasps. And only at the end of summer do males and females capable of fertilization begin to appear. They actively mate, after which the males, whose main task is completed, die.

The same fate awaits worker wasps, who live for about 1.5–2 months and fall asleep when the temperature drops below the critical mark of +10⁰С, and die with the arrival of real cold weather. The queen leaves the nest in the fall, like other insects, and also dies with the onset of cold weather.

As a result, only fertilized females remain for the winter. They hide in secluded places, fall into suspended animation and sleep until spring.

When do wasps wake up?

Wasps hibernate for quite a long time. They are not awakened by the thaw and the rays of the spring sun. In order to wake up, insects require certain environmental conditions. First of all, it is the air temperature. Wasps begin to wake up only after the thermometer rises above +10…+12⁰С. When the air warms up to +15⁰C, insects begin to live in their normal rhythm.

So the exact timing of when wasps will emerge from their winter hiding places varies depending on their region and weather conditions. But it’s not immediately possible to see wasps in the spring, because at first there are very few of them and everyone is very busy building a house for the new season.

Preparing for winter

In the fall, they scatter around the surrounding area and after that they no longer show their former activity and become much more vulnerable, sleepy and inactive. The fate of each individual individual develops differently. Some of them simply live out their lives as summer ends. After that they freeze.

If we are talking about fertile and fairly young females, then they usually mate at the very end of August, and then simply sleep in a secluded corner. This is necessary in order to continue life after the onset of spring (with the onset of heat). At the end of the season, the males die, as well as the working females and the old queen. It also happens that fertile females are born only at the very end of the season.

Another circumstance that has a strong impact on the situation with these insects is the slowdown of metabolic processes in the body of the uterus. After this, preparations for wintering begin. The body temperature of these insects begins to drop to a minimum level, which will help cope with freezing on too cold winter days. Wasps in winter are able to withstand even the harshest conditions if they manage to find a secluded place.

Reproduction and lifespan

After a warm winter (a secluded place is specially located for this), the queen begins to build a nest and lay eggs there. From these eggs only sterile individuals will emerge, which will further build the nest and obtain food.

And only towards the end of summer the queen begins to lay eggs, from which wasps will emerge capable of reproducing. It is these individuals that swarm and mate with each other.

After fertilization has occurred, young females fly out of the nest and look for a warm shelter for the winter, so that in the spring they can build their own nest. The males die. With the onset of cold weather, the entire abandoned wasp family, along with the old female, dies.

One female mates once and is capable of producing more than 2000 wasps. For the most part, these are worker wasps, sterile. The eggs are sealed in a chamber along with small insects (food). The larvae will then feed and gain weight in order to turn into a wasp.

The larvae that will produce wasps capable of reproducing feed differently. They are fed food that promotes the formation of reproductive organs. After the wasp emerges from the larva, it climbs out of the chamber on its own. The queen is 10 months long, but worker wasps and drones are only 4 weeks old.

Where do they winter?

The most common version is that after the wasps leave the nest with the onset of cold weather, they look for a place where they can overwinter. But there is another one - insects are looking for a place to winter not in the fall, but starting from the end of summer. In any case, the shelter in which the wasp will spend the winter must maintain a constant temperature and be as closed as possible from wind and frost. That is why in the fall, wasps sometimes actively climb into a house, barn, or bathhouse, hiding in cracks and crevices.

Most often in nature, wasps spend the winter in places such as:

• tree bark (insects gnaw holes in it or get into existing cracks);
• in old rotten stumps;
• in rotten fallen trees;
• in a heap of fallen leaves.

Wasps moisten the walls of their winter shelter with saliva. Thanks to the enzymes it contains, the wood becomes denser and better protects the female until the weather warms up and she can fly again.

How to destroy a wasp's nest: prevention

Wasps like to recolonize in areas where their nest was previously located. Therefore, experts recommend treating the problem area with an insecticide or regular potassium permanganate.

Food should not be stored in attics. Otherwise, insects will have a reason to enter the attic. Also, keep your space clear of clutter and clean often. It will not be superfluous to wipe down wooden surfaces, which will make nest construction impossible. It is many times easier to prevent a problem than to deal with it later.

Other methods of prevention:

• seal absolutely all cracks in the house, especially between the sheathing and the walls;
• install gratings on utility lines;
• Regularly inspect areas of potential wasp infestation.

Wintering process

Wasps live in winter in places hidden from human eyes. In most cases, in wood. They can hide and sleep under the bark, in old stumps, abandoned hollows, and crevices. Snowy winters contribute to successful wintering. The thaw has an unfavorable effect when the ice cover melts, the cracks become open to wind and frost. Unfavorable weather conditions, as well as natural enemies, prevent insects from overwintering.

In the wild, insects become victims of birds and animals. Bears deliberately tear open old hollows and eat prey before the insects can get out in the spring. Whether or not wasps sleep in winter is a controversial issue. This is a unique condition, as a result of which activity is lost, metabolic processes slow down, and nutrition as such stops. Wasps become inactive during the winter and save energy. With the onset of warmth, they awaken and continue normal life activities.

Wintering places

In the summer, wasps can be found almost everywhere in nature. Before the fruits ripen, these insects actively eat pests. Their numbers are usually small. However, as the fruits ripen, the number of insects increases.

The first young wasps are sterile females. They help the queen care for the new generation and build a nest. At the end of summer - beginning of autumn, young queens and males mate. With the arrival of cold weather, the nests quickly become empty: most of the male and working individuals die.

And young females choose places that are completely hidden from human eyes as their winter “dwelling.” In most cases, this is the thickness of wood, old stumps and cracks in outbuildings or houses.

How do they reproduce?

How long do rabbits live?

Towards the end of the warm period, workers add large honeycombs to the nests. All this is necessary for the queen to lay eggs. Then, within 20 days, females and males are born, which are called drones. By the end of August, the young offspring need to be well fed in order to get stronger. All this time they are protected by the roof of the nest. With the arrival of autumn, drones begin to mate. At one time, the male fertilizes the uterus with so much biomaterial that she can lay eggs throughout her life.

Reproduction of wasps

The predecessors of drones are not able to survive frosts, so they die. After the wasps reproduce, the young female is able to fall asleep, lay eggs again when spring arrives, and reproduce. Moreover, during all the warm months, only worker wasps are born. Fertile offspring appear only with the arrival of August. The timing of the mating season may also explain why wasps attack people for no reason and are especially active and aggressive towards other insects.

Fighting wasps in the autumn-winter period

Prepare your sleigh in the summer, and start fighting wasps in the winter. Just because wasps have left their nests for the winter doesn't mean they won't return in the spring. Therefore, certain work must be carried out while there is no one in the nests, or rather, as soon as the temperature outside the window drops to 9 - 10 degrees. This makes the task much easier.

First of all, it is necessary to carefully examine their possible wintering places - attics, sheds, all dark and dry corners. Look into every crevice where wasps could possibly live. If boards and other things are piled up on the site “just in case,” they should be moved to another place or rearranged. If wasps were hiding there, then if they were left without a roof over their heads, they would quickly die.

If you find a nest or something similar to it, remove it carefully and destroy it. The place where you found the remains of a wasp nest must be watered with something with a strong and pungent odor. Kerosene, for example, or dichlorvos. These measures will lead to the fact that next year the wasps will look for other nesting places. In addition, before snow falls, it is necessary to collect and burn fallen leaves, if possible, remove dry branches and trees from the area, or peel off the bark from them. Thus, we will significantly reduce the number of places where wasps can hide for the winter. The right owner will not forget to replenish supplies of insecticides. In winter, they are needed much less and, accordingly, their price is lower. Whether to collect plastic bottles for traps or not is something everyone will decide for themselves. Considering that almost all liquids are sold in such bottles, it is not advisable to collect and store them all winter.

Sources

• https://givnost.ru/osa-nasekomoe-opisanie-osobennosti-obraz-zhizni-i-sreda-obitaniya-osy/
• https://klopkan.ru/osy/kak-razmnozhayutsya-osy-zhiznennyy-tsikl-skolko-zhivut/
• https://dr-dez.ru/muhi/gde-zimuyut-osy-zhivushchie-pod-kryshej.html
• https://klopkan.ru/osy/gde-zimuyut-osy-esli-osenyu-ih-gnezda-pusteyut/
• https://WikiParazit.ru/osy-i-pchely/kak-zimuyut-i-chem-pitayutsya-osy.html
• https://queenbee.ru/osy-shershni-i-shmeli/gde-zimuyut-osy
• https://apest.ru/osy/ob-osah/zimuyut-osy/
• https://DomPchel.ru/pchelovodstvo/poleznoe/kak-zimuyut-osy/

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