Wasp - population
Wasp-population is as uncertain as summer itself. A walk through the woods and along the banks where the nests are more obvious in autumn tell very little. Two or three coming or going from a hole indicate that a queen is producing brood as fast as she is able, but the actual population will not be apparent until the first cold breeze comes in autumn. Round about the time that the aftergrowth is rising in the stubble, and falling blackberries are staining the water of the stream, the first swarms will be at the kitchen-window, seeking warmth, the juice of any fruit they can find and the sweetness of the jam-pot. A dry_summer brings more wasps, because, when it is dry, their food is plentiful. If no downpour swamps the nests, the wasps are in countless hordes by the end of the season. -One animal takes steady toll. The badger loves the grubs. He rakes out the nests when- ever he finds them, and it is no fault of his if one has to drive them off the marmalade-dish on a bright September morning.
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