average common or German wasp nest produces between 11 000 and 13 000 workers and from 1000 to 2000 queens a season. Paper wasp nests, which are much smaller than common or German wasp nests, contain up to 200 wasps.

A colony is the ultimate networking community, comprised of each of the six hive types, or six hives total, with the maximum 30 networking members in each of the six different hives. Hives typically meet a minimum of twice a month. At least two times a year, the Queen/King Bee will assemble a networking event for her or his entire colony.

There are thousands of species of Vespoid (true) wasps, the actual number is not known. We do know that there is about 800 species of social wasps.

Wasps eat a wide range of invertebrates including spiders, caterpillars, ants, bees, and flies. It has also been suggested that wasps may prey on nestling birds. Wasps also collect honeydew. Honeydew is produced by a native scale insect. The insect inserts its mouth-parts into the trunk of the beech tree to siphon the sap. The excess sap, modified by the scale insect, forms a sugary droplet at the end of a waxy anal filament.

Chitin. Wings are platelike extensions of the integument (outer skeleton), strengthened by a framework of hollow chitinous tubes known as veins.

Virtually any contact between two wasps can be considered a form of communication. Visual and audible signs are used to attract the opposite sex for mating, and size and posture displays are used in courtship or aggression. Exchanges of food and chemical stimuli (pheromones) among the members of a colony are also very important in maintaining the social hierarchy and tasking of the colony members.

According to Russian reports no special precautionary measures are needed because the Kombucha protects itself against impurities. Some of these protective features include the organic acids, low alcohol content, and carbonic acid. These all jointly block the development of all foreign microörganisms not belonging to the Kombucha. The Russian researcher IN.

Some say you can wash the mold off the Kombucha with vinegar, but I would advise that for safety's sake you throw out this batch of fermented tea as well as the Kombucha colony and start again with another Kombucha. Always add a 10% solution of ready fermented Kombucha Tea to each new batch you start. This is done to acidify the fermenting solution at the very start--to deter mold growth.

Although the original Kombucha will eventually wear out from age and use, it can be used repeatedly for quite a few months--as long as it remains in healthy condition. The life-span of a particular colony probably varies with use and feed-stock as well as growing environment, etc.

By Günther W. Frank , author of the book, Kombucha - Healthy Beverage and Natural Remedy from the Far East ISBN 3-85068-337-0 http://www.bawue.de/~kombucha/english.html One is also often advised to deep-freeze the culture in the freezer during a break in production, together with a little of the ready-fermented beverage. To do this, the culture can be heat-sealed into a freezer bag or else put into a screw-top jar.

It doesn't matter. There is no advantage to using one or the other. Each will produce a new colony when put into a feeding solution.

Günther W. Frank, author of Kombucha-Healthy Beverage and Natural Remedy from the Far East, suggests the following method: "I mail Kombucha colonies like this: I put the colony, including about 9 ounces of ready fermented beverage (very important!) in a plastic bag--like one use for deep freezing food in a deep-freeze. Then I seal the bag with a bag sealer. This bag I put into another bag, which I seal again. So it is double sealed.

Queens wasps are bigger because they have to produce and store large quantities of eggs. Being bigger also means that they can store more fat, which is essential if they are to survive winter hibernation — by the time queens leave the colony, fat reserves account for nearly 40% o their total dried weight. The differences in size result primarily from variations in quantity and quality of food received during the larval stage — queens receive almost twice as much food as workers.

Wasps and bees both belong to the order "Hymenoptera" and have many features in common. The most obvious differences are:

Yes — the venom sac at the end of a wasp sting keeps pulsing for a short period after a wasp dies, so if you come in contact with the sting you may still be injected with venom.

Unprovoked wasp attacks are very rare, a wasp will normally only use its sting to defend itself or to subdue prey. Many wasps stings are the result of people squashing wasps, either deliberately or by accident. Wasps are attracted to food (especially fish sandwiches) and sweet drinks. People have been stung while they are eating because they have not seen the wasp that is also sharing the food.

Bright colours are a sign of danger. Many species that are venomous, like snakes, spiders and wasps, are brightly coloured, and this colouring warns potential predators that they are dangerous. A predator, that attacks a wasp and is stung will link pain associated with a sting with the yellow/ black colouration and avoid animals with this colouration in future. Different colours are produced by the differential absorption and reflection of light.

In social wasps, workers (sterile females) have an average lifespan of 12-22 days, drones (fertile males) have a slightly longer lifespan than workers, and queens (fertile females) have an average lifespan of 12 months. Check our The Life History of Social Wasps page for more details.

German and common queen wasps usually choose a warm spot, often in a bank with a sunny aspect, but also in attics, house roofs, eaves, or walls in which to build their nests. Paper wasp queens build nests that hang from small shrubs and trees, stalks of vegetation, fences and walls, and often under the eaves of houses.

Yes. In the countries where wasps originate, a wide range of natural predators have been recorded including invertebrates (dragonflies, robber flies, hornets, centipedes, and spiders), birds (at least 24 species are known to eat wasps, including blackbirds, magpies, starlings) and mammals. In Britain, badgers are the chief predator: they destroy entire colonies to obtain the brood-filled comb. Stoats, weasels and mice also disrupt colonies in the early stages.