The paper wasp (Polistes) is a social insect that constructs a distinctive nest made of a paper-like material. These wasps inhabit temperate regions and operate on an annual life cycle. Their colonies are not permanent, lasting only a single season from spring until the onset of cold weather. This yearly cycle dictates a natural end for the majority of the population, allowing only a select few individuals to survive.
When the Colony Dies Off
The vast majority of the paper wasp colony—the workers and the males—perish in late autumn when temperatures begin to drop consistently. This decline begins when the original queen ceases to lay eggs, stopping the production of new workers after completing her reproductive cycle. The existing worker wasps, which are sterile females responsible for foraging and nest maintenance, have short lifespans and cannot tolerate the cold.
The colony’s fate is sealed by the first hard frost or sustained cold weather, which signals the end of the foraging season. Workers cannot generate enough heat to survive freezing temperatures, and the lack of food resources accelerates the die-off. Males, whose sole purpose is to mate with the next generation of queens, also die off after successfully completing this task in the fall.
As the weather cools, the social structure within the nest breaks down completely. Without new larvae to feed or a queen to enforce order, the remaining wasps lose commitment to the nest. Late-season worker wasps are often seen congregating around sugary foods like fallen fruit. Their diet shifts from protein-based larval food to carbohydrates for personal energy before they succumb to the elements, leaving the nest completely empty.
The Survival of the New Queen
The only exception to the seasonal die-off is the generation of new, fertilized females, known as gynes, who become the next year’s founding queens. These gynes are produced late in the season, often in late summer or early fall, alongside the males. After mating, these young queens undergo physiological preparation for winter, entering a state of dormancy called diapause.
Diapause is a hormonally and physiologically enforced state of suspended development that drastically lowers the queen’s metabolic rate. This allows her to conserve energy and survive without food for months. Before the first hard frost, the gynes leave their natal nest to seek a sheltered location known as a hibernaculum. They instinctively search for protected, dry places, such as under loose tree bark, in hollow logs, within piles of leaf litter, or inside wall voids and attics of human structures.
The new queen stores the sperm from her autumnal mating inside her body to fertilize the eggs she lays the following spring. Surviving the winter is perilous, and many gynes perish due to predators, disease, or unsuitable overwintering sites. Those that successfully endure the cold emerge in the spring, ready to begin the cycle anew by constructing a new nest.
What Happens to the Empty Nest
When the colony dies off and the new queens depart for their overwintering sites, the physical nest structure is left entirely abandoned. Paper wasp nests are annual structures and are never reused by a queen the following season, even if structurally sound. A queen always constructs a completely new nest in the spring, often in a nearby but distinct location.
The nest is composed of a paper-like substance created from wood fibers and plant stems chewed and mixed with the wasps’ saliva. This material is not designed to withstand the harsh conditions of winter indefinitely. Over the cold season, the abandoned nest is exposed to rain, wind, and snow. The elements cause the paper material to deteriorate, leading to the decay and eventual disintegration or collapse of the structure. The presence of an old nest is not an attractant for a new queen, though the specific sheltered location where it was built might be revisited.