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Name: Sheldon
Location: N/A
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Date: N/A
Question:
There are a lot of red paper wasps in and around our house. Why are there so many, and why do they hand around our front door?


Replies:
I'm not sure what species of wasp you have so I can't give you a very detailed answer. Paper wasps overwinter as fertile queens, all the rest die in the winter. In the spring a queen starts a paper nest and lays a few eggs, which hatch into workers. Over the summer the nest expands, and there are more and more workers until they all die again when it freezes in winter. how many workers there will be depends on the species of wasp and food supply, etc. So you have many wasps at this time of year because there is a nest somewhere nearby and they are at the maximum number of individuals before frost. Why they are by your door is probably just a coincidence, an accident, but I can't be sure.

J. Elliott


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