Overwintering Nests
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Most wasp colonies die off in late autumn after the queens and drones have been produced. In New Zealand, about 10% of German wasp colonies are able to survive the winter. It is possible that the years in which German wasps are more plentiful are those in which an unusually high proportion of nests have survived from the previous year
When conditions improve again in spring, such colonies already have a strong worker force and an existing nest structure. This means that they can grow very rapidly, and reach an enormous size by the end of their second autumn. The largest nest ever found was about four metres high and contained about four million cells. In nests like these the original queen is replaced by several new queens to lay eggs in the second season. Common wasp nests do occasionally survive the winter, but the overwintering nests found so far in New Zealand had not produced queens in their first autumn. |
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