CATDOLL : CATDOLL: How do wasps spend the winter?

1. How do hornets survive the winter?

The wasp society is not permanent. When winter comes, the colony disintegrates. In the spring of the following year, the female bees build nests and lay eggs again. There is no clear division of labor in the colony. All female bees have the ability to lay eggs, but most female bees are not allowed to lay eggs due to the dominant level. Every autumn, female bees mate with male bees from other colonies, and then the male bees die. In the spring of the following year, multiple female bees build nests together and lay eggs in the nest chamber. At the same time, these female bees fight each other for the highest level. When the dominant level society is established, the female bee with the highest level will monopolize the right to lay eggs. If the other female bees do not fly away, they can only be in a subordinate position. The eggs they lay may even be eaten by the female bees with the highest level. They can participate in the work of feeding larvae, or they can be "idle" and not work. In autumn, the female bees with the highest level produce unfertilized eggs, which develop into male bees. At this time, the female bees and male bees that do not work will fly over and mate with male bees and female bees from other hives respectively. The male bees die, and the female bees spend the winter and build new nests the following year.

As autumn approaches, the wasps in the flower bushes outside the window gradually return home at night. Why? Are they old and dead? Or are they hiding away because of the cold weather? Xiao Wang said: No matter how cold it gets, the wasps will burrow into the nest and seal it up for the winter. I was half-believing and half-doubting.

During those days, the weather was sunny and warm, and more and more bees returned to their nests. Taking advantage of the good weather, I hung a cardboard under the beehive and waited for a bee to freeze to death and fall on the cardboard to see what was going on. At the same time, I hung a cardboard box next to the nest, filled it with leaves and crumpled waste paper, and drilled holes in the box. If the bees could get in, they would definitely be able to survive the winter. So I observed it every day, but there was not a single bee returning to the nest, and I did not see any bees that died of freezing fall on the cardboard. I looked at the beehives carefully, and found that nearly 400 of them were empty, not to mention sealed. Could it be that all the bees had frozen to death outside?

It happened that Xiao Wang cut a nest with thirty or forty bees from a branch behind the yard and hung it next to the indoor air conditioner. His companions were scared to see the bees flying around the house. Xiao Wang said, don't be afraid, wasps will not sting people after the Cold Dew, let's keep them and let them spend a warm winter. Unexpectedly, the number of bees became fewer and fewer in just a few days. Xiao Wang was concerned about it and hung a plastic cup next to its nest, filled it with water and added sugar. After a few days of observation, no bees were seen looking for food. Instead, there were many dead bees on the ground and in the corners. There were also a few flying around in the house, probably looking for an opportunity to escape through the window cracks. I was thinking that although bees do not leave the nest in winter, there is food and water in the nest, but wasps are pitiful. They do not return to the nest in winter. How do they spend the winter?

After the beginning of winter, my wife was cleaning the fallen leaves in the flower pot when she suddenly screamed. It turned out that she found a wasp crawling among the fallen leaves. The wife asked: How did the wasp get here?

In mid-November, I went to the countryside with a friend. A century-old Chinese toon tree attracted us. The tree was half hollow. When we knocked on the trunk, it made a loud noise. My friend picked up a pair of fire tongs and pried open a piece of dry bark. Many stink bugs were exposed in the tree hole. When we pried deeper into the hole, we found several wasps and stink bugs huddled together. We didn't expect wasps to spend the winter in tree holes!

How to survive the winter

Digging a hole

2. Wasp species, when do they start to hibernate, and when to collect pupae

There are many types of wasps, such as the golden ring wasp, black tail wasp, black shield wasp, yellow waist wasp, yellow leg wasp, etc. Take the golden ring wasp as an example. It belongs to the order Hymenoptera and the family Vespidae. The body of this wasp is up to 40 mm long and is the largest wasp in the world. This wasp can prey on a variety of insects, so it has great value in biological control, but it will also suck ripe fruits, which brings certain harm to fruit crops.

1. Types of Wasps

1. Golden ring wasp: This wasp belongs to the order Hymenoptera, family Vespidae, and can reach a body length of 40 mm. It is the largest wasp in the world and mainly lives in mountainous areas with an altitude of 1000-2000 meters. Since it can prey on a variety of insects, it has a high utilization value in biological control, but at the same time it will also suck ripe fruits, which brings certain harm to agricultural crops.

2. Black-tailed wasp: This wasp is a relatively common and larger species, with different patterns and sizes. This wasp is mainly divided into two categories, the diligent black-tailed and the lazy black-tailed. The lazy black-tailed wasp nest can reach up to 3 kilograms, while the diligent black-tailed can reach about 20-30 kilograms.

3. Black-shielded hornet: This bee usually nests in holes in the ground or trees in the south, but some also nest in dense bushes. In the north, this bee mainly nests on trees or rocks. The shape of the hive is the same as that of the yellow-legged hornet, and the largest can reach more than 10 kilograms.

4. Yellow-waisted wasp: This wasp builds its nest in a similar way to the golden-ringed black-tailed wasp. It prefers places with many bushes. Its nest can weigh up to 10 kilograms. However, this wasp is very timid. Most of the time, it flies low and in an S shape when it leaves the nest. It is very fast.

5. Yellow-legged hornet: This bee is mainly distributed in areas with high altitudes. The yellow-legged hornet will build its nest in a cave, and will move the nest to trees, bushes, houses, etc. around the Dragon Boat Festival. The largest beehive can reach about 40 kilograms. The yellow-legged hornet is docile, adaptable, and has strong predation ability. It is a relatively impressive breeding bee species.

2. When do wasps begin to hibernate?

1. Wasps hibernate mainly due to the stimulation of temperature factors. For example, when the temperature continues to be below 10℃, the queen bee that has completed mating with the drone will hibernate alone or in small groups in sheltered areas such as stone crevices and tree holes.

2. Hornets mainly overwinter as solitary queens. When the winter comes, all hornets will die except for the mated queen, and the queen will hibernate in a sheltered place throughout the winter.

3. When do wasps collect more pupae?

1. Wasps generally produce the most pupae from March to October. In spring, female wasps go out to find suitable places to build nests and lay eggs. The fertilized eggs they lay will gradually become female wasps, and the unfertilized eggs will become male wasps.

2. If the number of worker bees in the nest has reached the upper limit, the hive will gradually expand. The main work of worker bees is to build nests and raise larvae. After autumn, generally, drones account for about 1/3 of the total number of drones in the nest, which is the period of the year when there are the most drones.

3. How do wasps breed queen bees? There are many wasps in my bee farm, and thousands of wasps are flying every day. I want to breed a wasp queen.

Raise them in a greenhouse, give them a place to spend the winter after mating, provide them with a tree hole, food and water, and probably take care of them.

4. The best temperature for hornets to survive the winter. Can anyone help me solve the most suitable temperature for hornets to survive the winter?

Generally, wasps emerge from their sting when the temperature is between 12 and 13 degrees Celsius, and start to build nests when the temperature is between 16 and 18 degrees Celsius. They hibernate when the temperature drops to between 6 and 10 degrees Celsius in autumn. They are most active when the temperature is high at noon in spring, and often stop being active when it is hot at noon in summer. They return to their nests at night and do not move. They like light. They stop being active when the wind speed is above level 3. The relative humidity is most suitable for activity when it is between 60 and 70%, and they stop going out on rainy days.