Understanding how wasps build their nests includes an appreciation of their life cycle. All but fertile female wasps die during the winter. One of the remaining fertile wasps eventually becomes the queen of the next colony.
Throughout the winter, the fertile wasps hide in crevices and underneath tree barks. Wasps come out of their hiding place as soon as spring arrives. These fertile wasps go out and search for a place where they can build their nest. They work together to produce a suitable nest. The most dominant wasp becomes the queen, while the other females become the caretakers of the eggs and the hatchlings. Most of the remaining wasps perform worker roles.
To make their nest, worker wasps go out and forage for building materials, such as weathered wood. Worker wasps chew the wood fibre and turn it into a pulp with paste-like consistency. The insects then form hexagonal paper cells out of the pulp. Wasps only produce enough paper cells to accommodate their eggs during the initial stages of the nest-building process.
Wasp nests have the shape of an umbrella. These nests often hang in areas that are protected from the elements. You can see them in tree branches, railings, porches, eaves, and other similar structures. Hornets often build their nests with a paper pulp cover. Yellow Jackets, on the other hand, prefer to build their colonies underground.
The wasp nest typically lasts only a year. The insects build the nest during the spring and continue developing it well into the summer and autumn. As autumn ends, the wasps begin abandoning their nest. They will attempt to hide where they await their death. Only fertile wasps will have a chance to survive the winter and be able to start the process of nest building all over again.