Wasps in the bee house

This year's new bee house has a space under the roof that I planned, in future years, to use as a release chamber.  In May I noticed a queen wasp had started to build a nest.  She flew in and out so quickly I wasn't able to get a photo of her or identify her.

Ten days later the nest looked like this.

After that I didn't take much notice, other than to dodge the wasps as they few in and out while I was photographing the bees and to think it was a small space for a wasp nest.  The nest grew to fill the space but then stopped.  A few days ago I saw a small male wasp walking about near the nest and was able to take some photos.

This is a male Saxon Wasp (Dolichovespula saxonica), an ID subsequently confirmed on Facebook.  The workers are usually on a mission but do occasionally stand about for a photo. There has been a noticeable reduction in activity of the workers recently, suggesting that the colony is coming to the end of its life.

This worker is taking a drink from a raindrop at the entrance.

At the beginning of the week I saw my first queen.  She is bigger than the workers and much bigger than the male.  I watched her walking up and down the roof and I was concentrating so much on taking the photos that I didn't notice at first that she has no wings.  This poor wasp is doomed.

This photo shows the relative size of the queen and the male.

The next day this queen was sitting on a mint leaf directly below the nest, presumably having fallen out.

I haven't seen another queen but I expect there have been others flying out while I wasn't looking.  The males also liked to sit in the sun on the mint leaves.

They spent a lot of time cleaning their antennae.

Saxon Wasps are recent arrivals from Europe, having been first recorded in South East England 36 years ago.  Since then they have spread and are now fairly widespread.  They build their nests in aerial locations, under roofs and in trees or sheds.  The nests are small and are usually empty by mid August.  When these are gone I plan to take off the roof of the bee house to see if I can remove the nest intact.

The severe wing deformity in the queen wasp is presumably due to deformed wing virus (DWV), which affects honey bees and gets noticed by beekeepers in beehives.  It also affects bumblebees and solitary bees (and obviously wasps) but usually doesn't get noticed because they can't fly.  DWV wasn't a problem in honey bees until the arrival of the ectoparasite Varroa destructor which is now almost universal.  DWV levels in honey bees are now many times higher and can lead to colony death.  There is concern that this will also lead to spill over into other hymenopteran species.  Social wasps could acquire the virus from contact with or predation on honey bees.

There is a much larger nest (presumably of a different social wasp) in the roof of my house, with over 100 wasps per minute going in and out.  I am keeping out of the way of that one but with luck I'll be able to remove it as well, although I'll wait until the winter when they have all gone.