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How cold do your winters get? The following is based on my experience with wasps in Hong Kong, where winters are quite short (december to march) and mild (daytime temperatures seldom below 10 degrees Celsius). I've found that wasps from most places except for true tropical regions will...

Yes, rather common local species about which surprisingly little is known http://www.ccs-hk.org/DM/butterfly/Bugs/Hemiptera/Sycanus-croceovittatus.html

Saw something similar happen in the wild too... luckily I managed to get a pic, though not a very good one. Here it is!

Also, queens of hornets and common wasps are usually far larger than most workers.

Hmm... should give it a try. I just found a Vespa affinis queen yesterday.

Hahaha....with your skill and your equipment, you don't need that tripod to produce excellent pics! I'm more interested to see what ideas for background you'll come up with next

Couldn't really decide for the previous rounds. But this time, I would vote yours anytime. Well thought set up ;) The leaf litter somehow goes so well with the subject. Nice muted colour combination too. priZZ's photo isn't bad either.

Vespa affinis is another nice species. I heard that in Taiwan they are possibly the most common Vespa and the most urban ranging species? Something interesting here. Currently staying for a couple of weeks in Singapore, I discovered an area where Vespa affinis frequently forage and hunt...

If only I had the space, I would try it. In fact, I always wanted to build a very large wire mesh enclosure, furnish with logs and other retreats and introduce a queen of one of the large ground nesting species such as Vespa tropica or Vespa ducalis. For now, it's still just a dream {D

Mine didn't seem to be so far, or at least didn't show any signs of ill effects. The enclosure I keep most of them is very large (maybe 90 cm high and 60 cm wide). For the hornet I mentioned above, she seemed content with being let out to fly for around 15 to 20 minutes each day.

I have experimented with that once, result wasn't too bad except that the mesh got sticky and hard to clean. Dark Raptor, how did you manage to get her to actually start nest building in a captive environment? Great work there! I'm wondering what is the deciding factor, such as a support...

Actually all I use is a large "critter keeper" type of plastic tank, the substrate being paper towel or sphagnum moss. Usually I mist the tank twice a day, since they need plenty of fluids or they dehydrate and die fast. I also feed them honey or syrup which I simply drip onto a designated...

Yes indeed, I love the diversity of social wasps around here. There are five species of hornets I have personally seen, although unfortunately there doesn't seem to be Vespa mandarinia here. I've only seen one specimen of Vespa mandarinia, which my girlfriend caught over in Taiwan (not sure if...

I have, on two occasions, kept a queen and a worker of Vespa ducalis, which is a similar species to the Japanese giant hornet and almost the same size. Wonderful pets. The worker, surprisingly, stayed alive with me for around 5 months! She was quite well trained too; since the enclosure was...

Big black bees that drill holes sound more like carpenter bees (Xylocopa sp.) ! That would make sense then; the males are highly territorial.

Here.... sorry for the rush job...

One of my recent tries at showcasing this beauty...

How did you remove the sting from the wasp? Curious {D

Bumblebees do sting. I've never been stung by one, but I expect though it won't be as painful as a hornet sting, it will still hurt, and possibly be dangerous to the tarantula. Also, there is no way to remove the sting without horribly mutilating the bee. Their sting isn't barbed or for "single use"

It's fine if you're 100% sure the bees are not exposed to pesticides. I fed worker honeybees to some of my large s'lings and small juvs after letting them sting some fabric and letting the sting out. They seem to like them a lot!