I looked up & the 6 wasps in the nest over my nap were all stopped,
motionless, immobile, even the one with its head stuck in the cell.
"Don't move! I gotta get a camera!" I told 'em
& I had time to get a camera before the Boss Wasp came back
& the crew went back to work. Or it looked that way.
Six wasps immobilized on a hot day
Seven wasps in Action
Two wasps hug & kiss
![Six wasps immobilized on a hot day](/2012/wasp/waspline_1.jpg)
![Seven wasps in Action](/2012/wasp/waspline_2.jpg)
![Two wasps hug & kiss](/2012/wasp/waspline_3.jpg)
The Boss Wasp seems to be the designated water carrier.
See those hugging, kissing wasps in this close-up? She's sharing water.
Here's a lucky shot from the same nest a couple of weeks earlier.
After seeing this, I made up the rest of the story to explain things.
![](/2012/wasp/waspline_4.jpg)
![](/2012/wasp/waspwater_5.jpg)
Things in the yard need water. Wherever there's open water, wasps, birds & littler tinier bugs show up to get some. Water is a Truce Area. (I made up that, too, but i never was chased or stung, so Good Enough!)
Then I got a Bucket & Chair, filled the bucket with water & sat next to it in the chair with a camera on my knee for a few days - Here's what happened...
![](/2012/wasp/waspWhite_824.jpg)
![chair & bucket](/2012/wasp/studio256.jpg)