1 Answer

Bald-faced hornet

http://www.akaqa.com/question/q19191821242-Where-do-bald-faced-hornets-or-regular-hornets-go-from-their-nest-once-winter-arrives

Near the end of summer, or early in the fall, the queen begins to lay eggs which will become drones and new queens. After pupation, these fertile males and females will mate, setting up next year's cycle of growth.

As winter approaches, the wasps die – except any just-fertilized queens. These hibernate underground, under logs or in hollow trees until spring. The nest itself is generally abandoned by winter, and will not be reused. When spring arrives, the young queens emerge and the cycle begins again.

Bald-faced hornets visit flowers, especially in late summer, and can be minor pollinators.

Like other social wasps, bald-faced hornets have a caste system made up, in one nest, of the following:

1. Queen – the fertile female which starts the colony and lays eggs.


2. Workers – infertile females which do all work except laying eggs.


3. Drones – males, which have no stingers, and are born from unfertilized eggs.


4. New queens – fertile females, each of which, once fertilized, may start its own nest in the spring.