The Wasp Colony: Queen, Workers and Drones
By Wespenprofis.ch · Reviewed by:Fachbewilligung Schädlingsbekämpfung VFB-S · Updated: 3 July 2026
At a glance
A wasp colony consists of a queen that lays the eggs, large numbers of female workers that look after the nest, the brood and the food supply, and — from late summer onwards — drones, the males, which exist purely for reproduction and cannot sting. After mating, the entire colony dies off apart from the young queens.
The queen: founder and egg-layer
At the head of every wasp colony stands a single queen. She has survived the winter on her own and founds the nest in spring by building the first cells and laying eggs into them. As soon as the first workers have hatched, the queen withdraws from building work and devotes herself almost entirely to laying eggs, while the rest of the colony takes care of food, construction and defence. Without the queen a colony can no longer produce any new brood and dies out in the medium term.
The workers: the real backbone
Workers are unfertilised females and make up by far the largest part of a colony. They take on practically every task apart from egg-laying: they build and extend the nest, hunt insects for the brood, feed the larvae, defend the nest when it is disturbed and keep the temperature inside constant. As the colony grows stronger over the course of the summer, the number of workers grows with it, until the colony reaches its greatest extent in late summer.
Drones and young queens: the next generation
Only towards late summer does the queen also produce drones — males whose sole task is to mate with young queens. They have no sting and take part in neither nest building nor defence. After mating the drones die, while the mated young queens look for a sheltered place to overwinter. With the first frost the colony breaks up for good; only the new queens carry the legacy of the colony into the following year. How long a colony stays active overall is explained in the guide How long does a wasp colony live, and how the nest is built for it in the article How a wasp builds its nest. An overview of the whole topic is provided by our pillar guide Wasps: the most important facts at a glance, and the species overview helps with identification.
Frequently asked questions
Can drones sting?
No. Drones are males without a sting, because in wasps the sting developed from a modified egg-laying organ that only female insects possess.
How many workers does a wasp colony have?
Depending on the species and the location, several hundred to well over a thousand workers can be active at the same time at the peak of the season in late summer.
What happens to the queen in autumn?
She dies along with the rest of the colony. Only the mated young queens survive the winter, and each of them founds a new nest of her own in spring.