In the UK wasp nests only last for one year, but the queens work over winter to create new nests in the following year.

Towards the end of the summer the workers can be very aggressive. In the spring the new queen wasps, that mated the previous autumn, start to build their own individual wasp nest from chewed up wood. 

Each Wasp Nest is a series of horizontal combs completely surrounded by a paper envelope with concentric markings. Initially, the solitary queen has to forage for food, construct the brood cells and when the wasp nest is about the size of a ping pong ball she lays her eggs, feeds the developing larvae and defends the nest. When the first offspring emerge as adults they assume all tasks except egg laying. These sterile females are called workers and are noticeably smaller than the queen. The queen devotes the remainder of her life to just laying eggs and does not leave the nest again. It is imperative that if you see any signs of a wasp control problem that you act quickly to eradicate this before it becomes a major problem.