Find out how wasps make their nests and use our illustrated guide to identify different wasp and hornet nests.

By Lewis White

Published: Thursday, 06 April 2023 at 12:00 am

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What are wasp nests made of?

While bees build with wax, wasps use papier-mâché made from wood scraped from nearby surfaces and chewed to a pulp. Each tiny mouthful is pasted in place and shaped to perfection using their mandibles and antennae.

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How do wasps make their nests?

Each nest is started by a lone queen. First she builds a sturdy downward stalk, which she daubs with a chemical that repels ants. The stalk opens into an inverted cup that she fills with six-sided cells – each one a nursery for a single larva.

Wasps share their penchant for hexagons with bees – the tessellating form of symmetric, same-shaped polygons makes the most efficient use possible of precious building materials. Believe it or not, wasps are even better at this than bees. At every Y-shaped intersection, where the walls of three cells meet, the wasp obsessively checks her angles – calibrating each to a perfect 120 degrees.

When the first comb is complete, usually containing in the region of a dozen cells, the queen surrounds it with curved walls. The result is a golfball-like starter-nest, in which the first brood of larvae hatch and develop into workers.

Now the building work picks up. A second, larger comb is suspended from the first by one or more stalks, and again enclosed by curved walls. More combs are added and enclosed as the colony expands over the course of the summer. Then, come autumn, the entire structure is abandoned for good.