Licking bees and pulping trees: The reign of a wasp queen - Kenny Coogan

Take a look inside a hive as a wasp queen begins her reign; founding a colony, hunting to feed her brood and defending against intruders.

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As the sun rises, something royal stirs inside a pile of firewood. It's the wasp queen; one of thousands who mated in late autumn and hibernated through the winter. Now she must emerge into the spring air to begin her reign. This queen is the lone survivor of her old hive, and now, she must become the foundress of a new one. Kenny Coogan details a year in the life of a wasp queen.

Lesson by Kenny Coogan, directed by Biljana Labovic & animated by Denis Chapon.

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[keytronic]

Should have titled the video "Stinging necks and Cashing checks: The reign of a wasp queen"

[shinysilverstardust]

This makes me want to play a strategy game where you play as a wasp queen.

[leahg]

The title alone makes you want to click on this video.

[grodkowski]

"They are vital to the ecosystem" ... This sounds like something a person paid off by a queen wasp would say. [Suspicion intensifies]

[CritterCompanionsbyKennyCoogan]

It was great working with TED-Ed again! Long live the queen.

[im.not.typical]

Poor bees... imagine being paralyzed and getting licked

[cittly]

Ted-Ed : *explains how lucky the wasp queen is not one of the unlucky ones who brutally died*
Also Ted-Ed : but first, b r e a k f a s t.

[ossen]

*This winter is by far the warmest ever and I live in Scandinavia*

[felicityguillen]

I want more of these animal-focused videos!

[roflmywaffles]

I lick bees as a hobby and work with trees yet you don't see me getting a YouTube video.

[absurdcamus]

Despite my deep hatred for wasps, this video gave me a newfound respect for them

[AsioEntomo]

Thank you for making this. Most folks' reaction to any wasp is to panic and kill it by any means necessary, but wasps do not go out of their way to be "mean". in fact, there have been several accounts of people who, by putting out food for the wasps that build nests near their homes, have built a friendship with the colony. All you need to do is show them that you're not a threat, and they'll leave you alone. Take some time to learn about wasps. They are just as ecologically important as bees are, potentially even more so.

[thefirsttalker]

It may be unusual, but wasps remind me of times when I was spending time camping with family at a lake in Poland as a kid. They were always somewhere nerby, doing their activities. I grew to enjoy their presence there, as they were trying to take a piece of cake or drink coke from a glass. I've never disturbed them so they didn't sting me. Grandpa many times said "if you won't make them feel in danger, they won't attack you" . I miss them, now it is rare for me to see wasps.

[massimookissed]

I used to get wasps buzzing around my brassica seedlings, ~ didn't know why.

Then one day I saw a wasp grab a caterpillar off a young cabbage plant and fly away with it :)

I feed stray cats, and have even had wasps cutting pieces off chunks of cat food and fly off with those!

[SciFactsYT]

Random fact: Honeybees can recognize human faces. 🐝🐝🐝

[AJEETSINGH-nxll]

FIRST ANTS THEN WASPS. I SEE WHAT YOU DID TED ED.

[Sketchy_Dood]

*wasps licks bees
Rule 34 artists: “yes”

[QuailTale]

I always liked wasps. We even had a wasp nest past year, we didn't remove it and they never stinged us. As a gardener I'm glad to hear they are ver helpfull! ❤️

[folklaur]

I appreciate how the video clearly tried to include how the humans’ presence affects the daily life of the wasp.

[movedchannels]

Very interesting to know! Although i know a little more info, sincerely i learned info about wasps before even seeing this video :)
I also, when i was younger, i was helping my dad grow the vegetables and crops. I heard buzzing from underground and listened carefully only to find a "burrow". Yes. Wasps usually actually make nests wherever they wish to, that commonly includes trees, but sometimes also underground. The queen bee starts making a new hive at spring when the weather is warm and the plants are blooming, when the snow is gone. That's mostly in mid-spring i think. Then over time, she starts laying eggs in it. Weeks, or months, pass by and workers are fully grown, while the queen lays more eggs. The workers make the hive larger and help feed the maggots. At summer, proper female and male wasps hatch and mate. At autumn/fall, the hive is abandoned. As said so, the young queen bee finds shelter to survive the winter. Winter arrives, the drones (male wasps), workers, and the old queen bee die. Somewhere between winter and spring, the new queen bee comes out of her shelter and starts working on her new hive. The queen bee lays her eggs upside down, head downwards. When the egg hatches, is gone through its 'maggothood', it evolves into its cocoon state and the queen bee seals the hole so the cocoon doesn't fall out. Then the "newborn" wasp emerges from its cocoon and gifts it's sugar-rich liquid to the queen wasp which keeps her healthy, and then the new wasp can do their thing. Wasps have many threats to them though, such as: badgers, european honey buzzards (or the pern), the common starling, the cross spider and the common blackbird. The hives are usually also like paper material. Thats all what i know! Thank you for reading, if you even did.