# Wasps, Dirt Daubers, and Hornets Questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 24, 2010, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasps-dirt-daubers-and-hornets-questions/533571 "2010-03-24T03:07:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasps-dirt-daubers-and-hornets-questions/533571/1 "2010-03-24T03:07:50Z")
Bees make nests and store food that humans and bears love to steal. There is a lot of information about bees. > **[Queen bee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_bee)** > > A queen bee is typically an adult, mated female (gyne) that lives in a colony or hive of honey bees. With fully developed reproductive organs, the queen is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive. Queens are developed from larvae selected by worker bees and specially fed in order to become sexually mature. There is normally only one adult, mated queen in a hive, in which case the bees will usually follow and fiercely protect her. > The term "queen bee" can be more genera... > **[Worker bee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worker_bee)** > > A worker bee is any female (eusocial) bee that lacks the full reproductive capacity of the colony's queen bee; under most circumstances, this is correlated to an increase in certain non-reproductive activities relative to a queen. While worker bees occur in all eusocial bee species, the term is rarely used (outside of scientific literature) for any bees other than honey bees. > Honey bee workers gather pollen into the pollen baskets on their back legs and carry it back to the hive where it is used... Bee larva - Image [http://www.goldendropsfarm.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/Cell-containing-larva-of-honey-bee-queen-.jpg](http://www.goldendropsfarm.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/Cell-containing-larva-of-honey-bee-queen-.jpg) I haven’t found much on Wasps, Dirt Daubers, and Hornets. They do make similar nests. Is there a queen? Do they raise their young (larva) within the cells of the nest? Is there any food storage? Is it similar to honey? There is a huge fear response to wasps and hornets. I certainly wouldn’t do the research. :eek: But, I am curious about their nesting. Finally, do these insects ever fight? I can’t recall seeing a bee and wasp together. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasps-dirt-daubers-and-hornets-questions/533571/2 "2010-03-24T03:26:00Z")
Turns out Bees have hives and wasps / hornets build nests. > **[Honeybees have hives, wasps and hornets have nests — what do bumblebees have?](https://www.straightdope.com/21342954/honeybees-have-hives-wasps-and-hornets-have-nests-what-do-bumblebees-have)** > > A STAFF REPORT FROM THE STRAIGHT DOPE SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD This article doesn’t answer the main questions I raised. So I guess the thread stays in GQ? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasps-dirt-daubers-and-hornets-questions/533571/3 "2010-03-24T03:31:15Z")
there are some that make single solitary nests and don’t live in a colony. also there are those kinds that live underground. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasps-dirt-daubers-and-hornets-questions/533571/4 "2010-03-24T05:25:20Z")
I’ve heard that hornets can be really dangerous if you make them mad. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasps-dirt-daubers-and-hornets-questions/533571/5 "2010-03-24T12:12:39Z")
Mad as . . . gee, maybe there should be some creature that might complete that analogy. Possibly a big black bug – they’re even more scary. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasps-dirt-daubers-and-hornets-questions/533571/6 "2010-03-24T13:27:54Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I haven’t found much on Wasps, Dirt Daubers, and Hornets. > > They do make similar nests. Honey bees construct their brood chambers out of wax - in the wild, they would probably choose a hollow tree or log in which to construct it, and the nest could last for several years, with (I believe) a mother-daughter succession of queens. Yellowjacket wasps construct brood chambers that look similar, but are composed of paper made from chewed up wood fibres, the nest is usually encased in a spherical paper shell and their choice of location _could_ be any kind of dry cavity - the nests are usually a strictly annual phenomenon (all the adults except new queens die in the autumn) - and as it hasn’t got to last long, they may build it in a more exposed place such as embedded in a hedge or under the overhang of a roof. > [@](#): > > Is there any food storage? Is it similar to honey? Yellowjacket wasps prey on caterpillars and other invertebrates - they don’t really make anything that resembles honey (at least not anything you’d wish to spread on your toast) - and because the majority of the nest population doesn’t overwinter, they don’t store much food - instead, all of the resources get poured into raising the current year’s brood. > [@](#): > > Finally, do these insects ever fight? I can’t recall seeing a bee and wasp together. In my subjective experience, wasps vs humans fight more than wasps vs bees - because we have more similar food resource interests to wasps than they do to bees. There are species of wasps (if you include hornets) that prey on bee hives - If you google ‘giant japanese hornet’, you’ll find some excellent, but scary footage of this. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasps-dirt-daubers-and-hornets-questions/533571/7 "2010-03-24T14:35:59Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Finally, do these insects ever fight? I can’t recall seeing a bee and wasp together. there are wasps that will lay their eggs in the larvae of other insects, including other wasps. not really a fair fight the adults attacking the young. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasps-dirt-daubers-and-hornets-questions/533571/8 "2010-03-24T14:44:11Z")
Before we got married, my wife’s house once had hornets living underground on either side of the path to the street. They would patrol the whole yard, and one never knew what might set them off. They never stung us or the dog, but of course the possibility was always there. The landlord ignored the problem, so I went and got a can of hornet killer. It sprays in a tight stream up to ten feet, as the manufacturer assumes that you don’t want to get close to their nests. It worked. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasps-dirt-daubers-and-hornets-questions/533571/9 "2010-03-24T17:44:40Z")
Thanks everyone. I’ve had a few run ins with wasps. My biggest concern is disturbing a nest. You can usually avoid the ones patrolling. Dirt daubers are ok. They aren’t aggressive. I wait until winter (after they leave) to take down nests on my house. I figure live and let live. They don’t hurt anything. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasps-dirt-daubers-and-hornets-questions/533571/10 "2010-03-24T19:14:47Z")
[Wasp nest](http://www.randdorientalart.com/net.wasp.nest.shotts.b.JPG) [Dirt dauber nest](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1360/1360492655_eb42a45305.jpg?v=0) [Hornet nest](http://vkart.com/photography/newengland/hornetsnestbig.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasps-dirt-daubers-and-hornets-questions/533571/11 "2010-03-24T19:23:44Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > There are species of wasps (if you include hornets) that prey on bee hives - If you google ‘giant japanese hornet’, you’ll find some excellent, but scary footage of this. Perhaps a solution to the killer African bees? Except, a large population of hornets would be even more dangerous to humans and pets. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasps-dirt-daubers-and-hornets-questions/533571/12 "2010-03-24T19:31:38Z")
I get both yellowjacket and mud dauber wasp nests on or around my house on a regular basis. Yellowjackets make paper nests, and they’re highly social. There are dozens or hundreds in a nest, which means you’re liable to get stung several times if you try to get rid of them the wrong way. Mud daubers, on the other hand, are not social. They make small, very sturdy nests from mud. Once those mud nests dry, they become, essentially, mini-bricks, and are hard to break. There’s usually just one larva in that nest. The mother mud dauber wasp isn’t very aggressive, and generally doesn’t stay around long after finishing her nest, so you’re highly unlikely to see her (let alone get stung) if you knock down her nest. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasps-dirt-daubers-and-hornets-questions/533571/13 "2010-03-24T20:06:51Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Perhaps a solution to the killer African bees? Except, a large population of hornets would be even more dangerous to humans and pets. ☹ The “Australian Solution”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasps-dirt-daubers-and-hornets-questions/533571/14 "2010-03-24T20:41:26Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > The “Australian Solution”. 😃 For those who haven’t heard of the Australia’s Cane Beetle “solution”, a [link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_toads_in_Australia) might be helpful.