Spring is a time of new growth. It is also a time when female wasps begin to make their paper nests. No, they do not collect man-made paper. Instead, they use their mouths to gnaw on wood until they have a mouthful. This wood is chewed and mixed with saliva forming a pulp similar to papier-mâché. The wasp forms the wood mixture into a nest consisting of a single layer of six-sided chambers that fit neatly together like the cells of a honeycomb. She deposits one egg into each cell.

Larvae hatch from the eggs in about a week and are fed by the female wasp for about two weeks. Each larva then spins a cocoon around itself, becoming a pupa. In about 10 days, the stuff each larva was made of is reformed into an adult worker wasp. The adults break out of their cocoons. 

These adults continue to build the nest and feed the next generation of larvae. The original female(s) who started the nest stays with it and continues to lay more eggs.

Caution: Don’t ever disturb a wasp’s nest. Wasps are easily provoked and can sting forcibly causing much pain, as this author can testify.

FYI:  I can also testify to the fact that spraying a nest with insecticide doesn’t always kill the pupa inside its protective cocoon. I know because I took a large nest to school so my class could see it. I had the nest in an open jar and the kids were able to observe it. The jar and nest were added to our collection of science “stuff.” One morning I arrived at school to find many yellow-jackets flying around. I was no longer a friend of the custodian. Teachers sometimes learn as much as their students. In fact, I am still learning more about science, and I still find it exciting and fun. 

More about Paper

One reason that wood can be made into paper is that it is hydroscopic. This means that it attracts water. This is why paper towels are useful in soaking up liquid spills. Copy paper has a special coating so that ink doesn’t spread through it the way it would in a paper towel.

When paper absorbs water it swells. This is why in rainy weather, some paper coverings on books bend and wooden doors stick. Because one of wood’s chemical properties is being hydroscopic, a couple drops of water will cause five bent wooden toothpicks to move on their own into the shape of a five- pointed star. See STAR BURST for details.

For more chemistry experiments, see Janice VanCleave’s 204 Sticky, Gloppy, Wacky & Wonderful Experiments.