How is the wasp nest arranged, and how is it used in medicine?

A wasp nest is a very interesting structure that insects construct using their own sticky secretions and fragments of wood. Moreover, wasps can start its construction absolutely anywhere. Externally, the finished design looks like a paper cocoon of oval or round shape. By the way, precisely because of the ability to produce building material that is very similar to paper, public wasps got their name - paper.

Construction material

So what are wasps making nests from? The starting material for the construction is various wood elements obtained by wasps from old stumps, trees, fences, various wood buildings, etc. That is why the color of the nest is always predominantly gray.

How is the “production" of paper from which wasps build their nests? Having found a suitable starting material, the insect sits, releases a droplet of its own saliva on its surface, and, backing away, begins to scrape off the finest fibers of wood. Its powerful jaws help in this wasp. Having collected enough material, the insect flies to the place of construction of the nest, where this lump is once again processed by the jaws and abundantly moistened with a sticky secret.
When the building material reaches the required consistency, the wasp sits on the edge of one of the cells of the nest, presses a lump of chewed wood against it and, backing away, stretches it into a thin strip, then takes it with its jaws by the edge and rolls the material in the perpendicular direction. Thus, the thinnest paper wall of the next cell is obtained.

It is interesting! Wasps can produce paper of different densities - and it is very thin, almost transparent, and its version is quite sturdy, similar to cardboard!

Nest building

Wasps build their nest, as a rule, together, but only the female, the founder of the entire colony, is always engaged in its initial construction. She feeds the first hatched larvae. Working individuals subsequently grow out of these larvae, which help the female in further construction.

Females begin to build a new nest in early spring, immediately after awakening from winter sleep. Having got out of its shelter, the founder wasp flies in search of a place suitable for the nest - it must be protected from the wind, direct sunlight and prying eyes. Often they stop their choice on a tree branch with a dense crown, an abandoned building, the attic of a private house. Sometimes construction can even begin on the surface of a large stone, in an abandoned hole of some rodent, in a rotten stump, a hollow of a tree, or behind the sheathing of a residential building.

The first "brick" of the aspen nest becomes a thin thread of frozen adhesive sticky secret, which the female attaches to the selected surface. Further, this thread gradually turns into a clearly distinguishable “leg”, to which first the first two cells are attached, and then the whole structure.

How does the hornet's nest expand?

The construction of the aspen nest proceeds rather quickly.As soon as the "foundation" was laid, the wasps immediately go for additional wood, with which they begin to grow cells. At the same time, they take building material, as a rule, in close proximity to the construction site itself, leaving characteristic grooves on the surface of the boards or bark. Using the jaws and legs, the wasp makes thin paper plates, fastens them to the base of the nest and flies for the next batch of material.

It is interesting! As soon as the female manages to grow the first ten adult working wasps, she immediately retreats and is exclusively engaged in feeding the larvae. From this moment, all the construction work for it is carried out by newly-minted members of a large aspen family!

The hornet's nest grows as follows:

• more and more new cells appear at the base of the handle, which overlap each other and form a honeycomb;
• with an increase in the number of honeycombs, the shape of the future nest begins to be seen - at first it is a kind of bowl;
• over time, the bowl becomes wider and deeper and as a result is transformed into a sphere, in the lower part of which the inlet remains;
• then the wasps begin to build a second sphere, which turns around the first - thus, the nest increases in size;
• when the construction of the second sphere is completed, the female removes a certain number of cells located on the sphere of the first - the inner one, and the more shells grow, the more cells are destroyed inside the nest.

As a result, the structure of the aspen nest is quite funny: the cells are located horizontally - floors, while the cells look only down.

On a note! Small wasp nests are the size of an average apple. But sometimes they grow quite strongly - up to a meter in diameter, and there can be several thousand insects in such a nest!

The inner part of the nest will always be the most durable and safe, and therefore it is there that the uterus itself and the combs in which the larvae are located. For the construction of this zone, insects do not use thin paper material, but wood chips. Their maximum value is that which wasps are able to carry and attach.

The outer shell of the aspen nest is much less durable, since it consists of the thinnest, longest and most flexible paper plates. Moreover, often for the construction of the outer lining of the wasp, recycled raw materials are used, which they take from the inner destroyed layers.

The device wasp nests thought out to the smallest detail. Multi-storey honeycombs create a special atmosphere inside the building: almost constant temperature and humidity are maintained there all the time.

Where wasps winter?

As mentioned above, the construction of the nest begins in early spring. At first, it is small and consists of only a few hundred. But gradually the nest expands, the number of shells and floors increases, exactly as the number of inhabitants. Looking at such a huge labor costs of insects, it may seem that they have been building a nest, as they say, for centuries. However, in reality this is only a summer dwelling, and wasps leave the nest when the cold comes.

In autumn, young females mate and fly around in search of a suitable place for wintering. Gradually, the hornet's nests become completely empty, lifeless. And the role of winter “apartments” for wasps is played by rotten stumps, secluded crevices under fallen trees, the top layer of soil under deciduous leaves, etc.

Aspen Nest Medicine

But the efforts of hardworking bees are not wasted, the knowledgeable person, having discovered an empty hornet's nest, will certainly take it with him. For what? For the preparation of medicine. Yes, that's right, a hornet's nest can be of great benefit. His, or rather, drugs based on it are quite actively used in traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases.

For example, if you compress several such nests (of course, empty, without insects), put them in a jar and pour alcohol, then after two weeks of insisting you can get a highly effective tool that helps in the following situations:

• with joint pain;
• with pain in the spine;
• with arthritis;
• with inflammation of the joint tissue;
• with various forms of viral flu;
• with bronchial asthma.

The above problems infusion helps to eliminate with external use - in the form of grinds. As for his internal intake, he shows very good results in the treatment of inflammatory processes in the gastrointestinal tract, with respiratory diseases and pneumonia. In such situations, 15 drops of infusion are diluted in 50 ml of water and taken three times a day.

The second way to use the aspen nest is in powder form. This simple one-component preparation heals burns, cuts and other injuries of the skin well. Moreover, it not only stimulates tissue regeneration, but also disinfects the affected area. A powder made from crushed wasp houses can also solve the problem of periodontal disease. It copes with sweating feet and eliminates unpleasant odors.

It is possible to store preparations from wasp nests for several years and their strength will not decrease.