The Wonders of the Bald Faced Hornet

One great thing about working in a small school is that there are lots of opportunities for people to get involved.

Everyone who works with the school other than the teachers and principle are volunteers.
That includes
secretaries
lunch room workers
janitors
handy men
fundraisers
bus drivers...

One of those volunteers is Layne's grandmother.
She came to me one day and told me she had something for my class.

Low and behold, it was a bald head hornet's nest.

Layne had gone camping with her grandparents the weekend before. Her grandfather noticed the nest, climbed into the tree it was in, and cut it down. Brave man!

We just finished studying insects and talked about the ones that make paper-nests.
These wasps and hornets chew up wood and mix it with their saliva to create the paste that makes the nest.  It was great for my students to get to see a paper-nest first hand. I love when they can experience what we're learning about first hand!

Fun Facts About the Bald Faced Hornet:

• There is a starch in their saliva that holds the paper of their nests together.
• The queen bee begins a new colony every season.
• All hornets except the queen bee die each winter.
• The queen bee hibernates in the winter under dead logs.
• Male Bald Faced Hornets have no stingers.
• These bees feed off nectar and fruit pulp.