Wasps are yellow and black in colour and are social insects living in nests of up to around 10,000 workers. They can grow up to 19mm in size and are mainly found in gardens, woodlands and meadows.
Wasps live in paper nests, made by chewing small amounts of wood from trees, reeds or garden fences. In Gardens, they will not construct their own burrow but will use existing ones abandoned by other animals. They also live in garden sheds, garages and lofts where they will construct their nests within the eaves. They will defend the nest and will sting anything that disturbs them.
Wasps are mainly found in the summer, as all expect the young mated queens will die at the end of autumn. In late Spring the queen will emerge and start to look for a new nest site. She will then start to build a nest and lay her eggs. They will be female workers who will take over the building of the nest, whilst the queen lays more eggs. Towards the end of the summer she will lay more eggs which will produce male wasps and fertile females which will become next years queens. They will swam out of the colony and mate, with the male dying shortly after.