Found your content only after making a video on wasps myself. I wish I had seen your channel earlier. I would love to see more content detailing your enclosure setup and the details of how/what you feed the wasps to get them to overwinter. I'm thinking of attempting to keep some of my local p. exclamans alive in an indoor enclosure this winter and so far I'm copying the few clips of what I could piece together from your videos. Terrarium, honey, water, and occasional meat or maybe even mealworms from our local feed-shop. I'd love to hear any advice you have or even better see a video on that topic. Thanks and keep up the awesome work!!!
@suburbanbiology - Thanks for your comment. Great that you will try making an indoor vespiary this winter. Most Polistes paper wasps do great in captivity. You can feed them honey and water separately, or just use sugar water (regular sugar dissolved in water). They don't need much meat/protein unless they are feeding larvae in the nest. We usually set up an enclosure that has good ventilation (like mesh screen top, etc.) and some plants, rocks, sticks, etc. to climb on or hide under. They like to hang out under coconut shell halves and curved tree bark pieces, etc. Just make sure to heat treat anything you put in the habitat to kill off unwanted insects/pathogens/molds/fungi/etc. (we just bake it all in a toaster oven used for that purpose but you could use any oven). We've had various Polistes species in captivity for up to a year with no problems. You do have to keep the habitat very clean or you can get parasite bugs of various types in the enclosure (gnats, flies, booklice, etc.). Most Polistes in captivity end up getting so mellow you can feed them by hand easily. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
You guys are doing such essential and highly needed job and to see the joy and exuberance of youth just is so pleasant to see. Does the team have an address to send donations to the team?❤
@KiKi70236 - Thanks for your comment. Your thoughts are much appreciated! The Manchester University Wasp Survey Team gratefully accepts tax deductible donations through Manchester University. The Team can be reached directly at 260-982-5136 to arrange donations.
I assume the males are developed in the worker combs. Do you remove them before (or after) freezing them or is that left to those at the immunotherapy facility?
@billinct860 - Thanks for your comment. Yes, the males are hatched on the reproductive cells in the brood comb, as are the new queens who will mate with males then hibernate over the winter and start their own nests in the following spring. We typically collect most of the wasps in the nest and let the collections be sorted out further down the supply chain.
@cherylkoenig5509 - You are absolutely right! We often save the paper and have used it for art projects. It is beautiful paper with an amazing natural array of earth tone colors. Someday we'll open an online store to offer it to people who enjoy it.
@davidglover4204 - Thanks for your comment. V. squamosa (Southern Yellowjacket) always come out swinging! Have not encountered them in an attic or building yet. Only ground nests around here so far, and one under a shed.
@Greenlife-hg8zm - Thanks for your comment. We saw more Southern Yellowjacket (Vespula squamosa) nests this year as well. They seem to be expanding into a wider range as the climate heats up the world. In the Southern regions of the USA, where winters are getting more and more mild, Southern Yellowjackets are often building perennial super nests that don't die off in winter because the weather isn't cold enough to kill them. So they have huge nests with multiple egg laying queens. This is bound to increase their overall population in North America eventually. Indiana had the hottest years on record the past couple years in a row, with milder winters. Species will change and evolve and move with the climate.
@cherylkoenig5509 - Great question. We typically keep all the wasp batches separated for each collection. So we'll do the initial collection of flying adult wasps in the field, then freeze those in their own bag. When we incubate more wasps from the brood comb of that same nest, we'll collect and freeze those in their own separate bag. This way, each collection is kept isolated so that in case there is any unknown contamination or problem with the wasp stock in the bags, it won't effect other batches.
Found your content only after making a video on wasps myself. I wish I had seen your channel earlier. I would love to see more content detailing your enclosure setup and the details of how/what you feed the wasps to get them to overwinter. I'm thinking of attempting to keep some of my local p. exclamans alive in an indoor enclosure this winter and so far I'm copying the few clips of what I could piece together from your videos. Terrarium, honey, water, and occasional meat or maybe even mealworms from our local feed-shop. I'd love to hear any advice you have or even better see a video on that topic. Thanks and keep up the awesome work!!!
@suburbanbiology - Thanks for your comment. Great that you will try making an indoor vespiary this winter. Most Polistes paper wasps do great in captivity. You can feed them honey and water separately, or just use sugar water (regular sugar dissolved in water). They don't need much meat/protein unless they are feeding larvae in the nest. We usually set up an enclosure that has good ventilation (like mesh screen top, etc.) and some plants, rocks, sticks, etc. to climb on or hide under. They like to hang out under coconut shell halves and curved tree bark pieces, etc. Just make sure to heat treat anything you put in the habitat to kill off unwanted insects/pathogens/molds/fungi/etc. (we just bake it all in a toaster oven used for that purpose but you could use any oven). We've had various Polistes species in captivity for up to a year with no problems. You do have to keep the habitat very clean or you can get parasite bugs of various types in the enclosure (gnats, flies, booklice, etc.). Most Polistes in captivity end up getting so mellow you can feed them by hand easily. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
You guys are doing such essential and highly needed job and to see the joy and exuberance of youth just is so pleasant to see. Does the team have an address to send donations to the team?❤
@KiKi70236 - Thanks for your comment. Your thoughts are much appreciated! The Manchester University Wasp Survey Team gratefully accepts tax deductible donations through Manchester University. The Team can be reached directly at 260-982-5136 to arrange donations.
I assume the males are developed in the worker combs. Do you remove them before (or after) freezing them or is that left to those at the immunotherapy facility?
@billinct860 - Thanks for your comment. Yes, the males are hatched on the reproductive cells in the brood comb, as are the new queens who will mate with males then hibernate over the winter and start their own nests in the following spring. We typically collect most of the wasps in the nest and let the collections be sorted out further down the supply chain.
Another amazing project.
What do you do with the paper? It's so pretty I keep thinking it can be used somehow in an art project.
@cherylkoenig5509 - You are absolutely right! We often save the paper and have used it for art projects. It is beautiful paper with an amazing natural array of earth tone colors. Someday we'll open an online store to offer it to people who enjoy it.
@@greenwaspremoval
I would love to see some.
And I would absolutely buy some.
@cherylkoenig5509 - Nature's art is the best!
I got 2 good stings this week from a hive of squamosa in an attic. Just them and me. I removed 7 layers of combs.
@davidglover4204 - Thanks for your comment. V. squamosa (Southern Yellowjacket) always come out swinging! Have not encountered them in an attic or building yet. Only ground nests around here so far, and one under a shed.
Southern Yellowjackets seem more common this year i saw a lot more than usual.
@Greenlife-hg8zm - Thanks for your comment. We saw more Southern Yellowjacket (Vespula squamosa) nests this year as well. They seem to be expanding into a wider range as the climate heats up the world. In the Southern regions of the USA, where winters are getting more and more mild, Southern Yellowjackets are often building perennial super nests that don't die off in winter because the weather isn't cold enough to kill them. So they have huge nests with multiple egg laying queens. This is bound to increase their overall population in North America eventually. Indiana had the hottest years on record the past couple years in a row, with milder winters. Species will change and evolve and move with the climate.
When you freeze the new hatchlings, do you put them in the same bag as the original ones?
@cherylkoenig5509 - Great question. We typically keep all the wasp batches separated for each collection. So we'll do the initial collection of flying adult wasps in the field, then freeze those in their own bag. When we incubate more wasps from the brood comb of that same nest, we'll collect and freeze those in their own separate bag. This way, each collection is kept isolated so that in case there is any unknown contamination or problem with the wasp stock in the bags, it won't effect other batches.
@@greenwaspremoval
Thank you for always answering my probably silly questions 💙💙💙
@cherylkoenig5509 - Your questions are always thoughtful. Others can learn from the answers too so we're happy to answer!
@@greenwaspremoval
Thank you for always answering me.