Like most other insects, paper wasps despise the cold winter, prefer to rest or hibernate instead.For this, they vacate their old nests and move to deserted and safe locations that will allow them to sleep peacefully without anyone bothering them. These locations can be crevices in trees, wood, or even your house!Wasps are mostly concerned about protecting the lives of their queens. The members of the colony make sure that the queen is warm and safe during winter so that she can lay eggs and build a new nest in spring. However, for the other worker bees, the condition can become quite pitiful. Most of them run out of food and starve, and the male workers sometimes cannot tolerate the extreme cold, which leads to death. Let us discuss some fascinating questions on this topic!After reading all about wasps in winter, you will also want to read about common wasp facts and egret vs heron.Where do queen wasps hibernate?Wasps ensure the safety of their queen more than their own, and can even give up their lives if needed. This is because the new queens, being the only female wasp, lays eggs and gives birth to younger wasps during the spring, which helps in continuing the race and building a stronger colony. New queens can survive the chilling winter months but warm winters can be risky as they are often fooled to go out and end up starving, with no flowers available.Mated queens hibernate in the same spot as the other members but are given the most priority. If you notice a hidden spot in or around your house with only a single wasp, it is most probably the queen of the colony, surviving after all the others have died. However, the queen would have mated with the male worker wasp and will emerge from her hibernation post-winter and look for a suitable place to build her new nest. As the life cycle of paper wasps is short (only a few days), the queen will spend most of her time feeding and providing nutrition to the first larvae so that they can quickly grow and give rise to other wasps. These wasps can be new queen wasps too, which when fully grown, are assigned with the task of carrying the colony forward. The wasps will never go back to their old nests but rather build a new one either next to it or any other place hornets can find.What time of the year do wasps hibernate?Wasps go to sleep during the onset of winter, which can vary from late November to early December each year. Hornets keep looking for a suitable spot to rest a few days before winter begins. The female wasps get ready to mate, should the male wasps die from cold weather. Hornets collect as much food as they can but in most cases, it is not enough.As the temperature drops, paper wasps become a lot more fierce and do whatever hornets can to protect their nests from stronger predators or the harsh weather. However, the low temperatures can also affect the metabolism of the insects and result in quick utilization of all the stored food, which can lead to a point where hornets even have difficulty flying. Below 50 degrees (10°C), hornets will start becoming inactive and if the temperature crosses the freezing point with the appearance of snow or frost, the wasps die.Do wasps come back to the same nest each year?The violent insects that wasps are, one can be highly relieved to see them leave their habitat, especially if the nest lies near their house. Yellow jackets sting for no reason at all and can do so multiple times at a stretch without dying, which makes them all the more dangerous. They are forced to leave their nests before winter due to the severe weather conditions and get hibernating at a different spot.Once wasp season is over, which is usually from April to October, hornets start looking for a fresh area to take their queen for hibernation. However, this new area can sometimes be close to the nest, so attempting to remove it can disturb the colony living somewhere near. Although most wasps die in the cold, the queen starts giving birth in the spring season and rebuilds the colony, which after having grown for some time, begins its search for a new nest, which can be quite close to last year’s. Wasps tend to build the new nest in the same spot because this way, hornets have less difficulty in locating flowers and other smaller insects for building their food reserve.Should I leave a wasp nest alone?A wasp nest can last for about three to four months. During this period, yellow jackets can cause a lot of damage to your house, both indoors and outdoors. Their population is maximum during spring and summer when the new eggs hatch and the worker wasps are out looking for more food for the young ones.We are tempted to destroy wasp nests, but little do we know about the consequences of it. Wasp nests are difficult to locate and identify. A wasp net can easily be taken for that of a hornet’s, but always remember that hornets mainly live on the ground, inside small holes, whereas wasps mostly build aerial nests. A hornet is the most violent of all wasps, and once you come in contact with them, you’ll be left with multiple stings. So it’s better to leave a nest alone if you find one on the ground. Attempting to destroy a wasp or hornet nest without proper protection or covering can be really dangerous, and sometimes even fatal. Pest control is the best option if you want to get rid of these flying insects. But make sure you avail of pest control from an experienced agency.Some insecticides and pesticides are helpful in killing the population of wasps. Yellow jackets can also be trapped by leaving food baits poisoned with sprays or dust.If you are near a wasp or hornet nest, make sure you wear goggles, full-sleeved outfits, and shoes as a precaution. A couple of hours after a nest is treated, the insects present at that point of time will die by the end of the day, the entire colony, including the larvae, will have been destroyed. This procedure can be repeated with all the other nests and in a few days, your house or garden will be completely free of all types of wasps- eggs, larvae, or adults!Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Do Wasps Hibernate? Interesting Hornets Hibernation Facts For Kids then why not take a look at Why Do Catholics Pray To Mary? 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Like most other insects, paper wasps despise the cold winter, prefer to rest or hibernate instead.
