This actually starts the year before, when newly inseminated queens (usually between 1000 and 1500 of them) leave the nest to breed and then hibernate. The attrition rate of these queens is extremely high. Most are predated on by mainly spiders through the winter months, and only a tiny number (as little as five in a thousand) survive to start a new colony.

The queen wasp waits until the temperature indicated to here that there should be enough flowers about before coming out of hibernation. Feeding on nectar which gives her energy, she finds a source of rotten or dead wood which she uses to start to build a nest single-handedly. Within the hexagonal cells in the nest she lays eggs, and when they hatch she starts to catch insects and find rotten meat to provide the protein necessary for the larvae, or grubs. These grubs produce a sugary liquid which feeds the queen in return. When the grubs mature they take over the nest building and the queen restricts her activities to procreating more colony members by laying thousands of eggs.

The more mature wasps are now feeding the grubs, mainly on insects, many of which we would consider to be serious pests in their own right. In return the grubs secrete/regurgitate a sweet liquid which feeds the workers. It is at this stage they are positively beneficial to mankind, as they are voracious hunters. It has been estimated that a single colony over a one year cycle can account for between 4 and 5 metric tonnes of insect pests and flies. Some common plants rely on being pollinated by wasps for their existence.