This is the nest of the polist wasp, the paper-maker.
These bees build a hexagonal nest with the paper produced
by mixing their saliva with the wood they chew on.
Larvae of the bee grow in these paper nests.

The worker bees are worried that the hot temperatures
might heat up their nests. The worker bees adjust the
room temperature with water. Six days after hatching,
a larva shelters itself and transforms into a pupa.

Once out of the cocoon, the pupa becomes an adult in
two weeks. The bee will mature into a worker bee or
a queen bee depending on the temperature. A larva will
become a queen bee when exposed to warm temperatures
and a worker bee when exposed to cool temperatures.

The polist wasp rapidly flaps its wings to raise its
body temperature and to dry its wet wings.


Comments
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From: Pollinator@aol.com
Date: Tue, 22 May 2001 22:44:36 EDT
Subject: a3/Microcosmos_191-Polistes_Paper_Wasps-capture_by_fask7.jpg

I was just browsing your gallery. I'm glad to find these pics, because there
are so few available. You correctly identify them as Polistes wasps. Why
then do you keep calling them bees. They are NOT bees.


Dave Green SC USA
The Pollination Home Page: http://pollinator.com