Wasps and ivy

Peter Acton found this miniature wasp's nest inside the roof of his shed, a little smaller than a golf ball, he said.

I had previously removed one from inside my shed too.  Why do the queen wasps abandon these little nests?  Do they decide it's not such a desirable location and move on to build another nest?  More likely something gobbles them up before they can lay their first eggs.

If you look inside this one below, you can see seven little hexagonal cells waiting for eggs.  Normally the queen lays a few eggs and feeds and nurtures the grubs until they pupate.  When they hatch out as workers, she settles down to egg laying while they enlarge the nest, build more cells, and care for the grubs which become their sister workers.  By the end of the summer a nest can contain 20,000 individuals.

But then the queen stops laying and the workers go on holiday, heading for your beer or jam.  They also like fallen apples and plums.  Or nectar if they can find it.  This lucky little wasp found some ivy flowers.

Ivy supplies nectar in the autumn and berries in spring, the other way round from most plants.  You can see that some of the flowers are already turning into brown berries, which will be black when ripe.