Caught a foundress

[Tleilaxu]

I found a large female paper wasp in my house after bring in all our plants for the winter. Anyway what can I do to inducer her to start nesting behaviors? Does she need to be hibernated? Any other info would be great!

 

[vespa_bicolor]

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 benefit
from a short winter rest, if not full hibernation. They seem much more ready
to nest after this, as if they know it is time.

If winter temperatures get very low in your area (below zero degrees Celsius)
, you could induce full hibernation by putting her in a cage filled with
sphagnum moss and putting this in the refrigerator (not the freezer!). However, if your area doesn't get that cold, then I would simply place this cage in an unheated, relatively dark area. It is also important to feed her well
in the few days before this. Give her honey, fruit or fruit juices and sugar
water. She should also have access to plain water. Keep her like this for
a week or so before putting her into hibernation mode. Even if you keep her
at room temperature in an unheated room, as long as she's kept dark, she
shouldn't fly. Although a small dish of honey or sugar mixed in water should
always be kept inside in case she wakes up or needs to eat.

At the start of spring, bring her into a warm and bright area. She should
wake up shortly, in a couple of days. During this period, feed her intensely
again, and this time, you have to feed her food with a high protein content
(usually other insects). I'm not sure about the paper wasps in your area.
Among the 20+ species of paper wasps and hornets here, some are fussy feeders which take only caterpillars, while a couple are greedy omnivores that even love raw chicken or beef. Your best bet is to feed her with caterpillars.
If you can't find any and she won't catch live crickets or mealworms, you
may have to do something drastic and disgusting: cut open these insects
and dig out the insides with a toothpick, then offer that to her!

At this point she should be transferred to a larger enclosure with lots
of branches (for her to start nesting), shelter and scraps of wood.

Don't be disappointed if eventually she doesn't nest. I find that it is
far more difficult to get a queen wasp to start from scratch in captivity
than to collect and transfer a nest later in the season.

 

[Tleilaxu]

Thanks dude! Winters here can get to below -32 degrees F

I have seen the native papers here take crickets, check this link and you will see my pics. Again thanks for the info. I have already let her go though.

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=71656