# Wasps fly south for the winter?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasps-fly-south-for-the-winter/231295>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 26, 2004, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasps-fly-south-for-the-winter/231295 "2004-02-26T15:35:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ChunkyLover53](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c0e974/32.png) [@ChunkyLover53](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChunkyLover53)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasps-fly-south-for-the-winter/231295/1 "2004-02-26T15:35:04Z")

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I noticed a small wasp nest on top of one of my windows and it made me wonder what happens to them in the winter? Do wasps hibernate? Lay eggs that incubate throughout the winter?

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**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasps-fly-south-for-the-winter/231295/2 "2004-02-26T16:40:22Z")

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> [@ChunkyLover53](#):
>
> I noticed a small wasp nest on top of one of my windows and it made me wonder what happens to them in the winter? Do wasps hibernate? Lay eggs that incubate throughout the winter?

I saw a wasp nest on my patio cover during the winter. There were no critters on it, but it had some sealed cells, so I figured I’d knock it down and destroy it, thereby killing any percolating wasps that were inside it.

I went to the garage and got myself a broom and proceeded to poke at it trying to knock it down. FROM BEHIND THE NEST came about 30 very pissed off, but EXTREMELY sluggish wasps all hell bent on kicking my ass if only \<yawn\> it weren’t so cold and \<yawn\> … well, maybe we’ll just go back to sleep.

If it hadn’t been so cold, I woulda been in a world o’ hurt, as my daddy used to say.

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**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasps-fly-south-for-the-winter/231295/3 "2004-02-26T16:49:02Z")

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If you mean those multicelled wasp nests, they are made by paper wasps. The mated females hibernate during the winter - the others die:

[http://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/insects/wasps/paper\_wasp](http://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/insects/wasps/paper_wasp)

> [@](#):
>
> The colony is founded in early spring, soon after the queens (mated females) emerge from hibernation. As the colony matures, males and the next year’s queens are produced. These queens mate with males and are the only members of the colony to survive through winter. In late summer or fall, the founding queen, workers (unmated females), and males all die. The newly mated queens hibernate, typically in piles of wood, in vegetation, or in holes. The following spring they emerge and begin the cycle anew. A similar life cycle is found in bumble bees.

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**Author:** ![ChunkyLover53](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c0e974/32.png) [@ChunkyLover53](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChunkyLover53)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasps-fly-south-for-the-winter/231295/4 "2004-02-26T16:57:01Z")

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Thanks for the info. I guess I’d better knock down this nest before it warms up and any remaining wasps wake up well rested and full of vigor.  
Is there anything I can do to prevent them from coming back and rebuilding on my patio? The nest is in a 2" gap between the top of my window and the porch ceiling. Should I fill this gap or spray it with pesticide to keep them from coming back?