a paper wasp probes

a paper wasp probes

the throat of a white flower

ignored by honey bees

A mated female wasp emerged a few weeks ago, during a hot spell in early spring, and began building a papery gray nest shaped like an upside-down umbrella in a corner of my second-floor window. I didn't notice until the new queen's eggs hatched into workers, who were busy adding to the open cells of the nest. Some of them managed to squeeze in through the crack between the window frame and the screen, getting trapped in my bedroom, not a comfortable situation for any of us. I opened the window, shooed them away from the nest with a broom and then knocked the nest off. They kept returning to the same spot for many days, but finally the queen began building a new nest higher up, under the eaves.
          Although their sting is painful, these wasps are usually quite docile unless they or their nest are attacked. This morning I find a worker climbing all over the white blossoms of a wildflower just outside our front door, probing for energy-giving nectar. The honey bees are bustling around the tree peony blossoms nearby, but none of the bees seem interested in this particular wildflower, leaving the job of its pollination to the wasp.
          When the wasp larvae hatch, the adults will forage for caterpillars, flies and beetle larvae to feed their young. Paper wasps are doubly beneficial to gardeners by pollinating flowers and eating pests. So I quietly leave this gold-striped beauty to her work.