A late start of spring

Despite the mild winter, spring is taking a while to start. It has been very windy and cool of late. The last few days have been noticeably milder and still, almost warm when the sun came out. My first Anthophora plumipes male came out on the 12th of March, a bit late, but not unusual. Then there has been a few queen bumblebees and honeybees. The striking thing is that I haven't seen a butterfly this spring yet. A queen wasp bumped against the conservatory window a few days ago, but I couldn't identify it to species. Today, I found a very sluggish queen Common Wasp, Vespula vulgaris, inside the conservatory. Spring is slowly, but surely, on its way.

First queen wasp

The first queen wasp of the year got herself trapped in the conservatory. She was cold and calm, so I decided to give her a session with the white bowl. I held her in a tissue and placed her onto the bowl and she posed nicely. After a few photos, with me breathing onto her, she warmed up, started grooming her antennae and flew onto the window, and I let her go.
 The only overwintering stage of social wasps are queens. Males died at the end of the autumn after mating, and the workers a bit earlier. Their large paper nests are now empty, as the life cycle of social wasps lasts for less than one year. Queens overwinter in buildings or other dry places, but the strong wind and mild temperatures have probably helped stir this one out of her hiding place.
 The 'anchor mark' on her face identifies her as a common wasp, Vespula vulgaris.

Side view showing how hairy she is.

And a little grooming of antennae before flying off.

Food for the queen wasp

Queen common wasps (Vespula vulgaris) are very active at the moment. After emerging from their overwintering sites, the queens must build their paper nests, lay eggs and raise the first batch of larvae. They also need to feed themselves. Wasps do not have long tongues and need accessible nectar or other sugary sources. The wasps in my garden love the spurge for that very reason (above), and later in the season they feed on Fennel and Ivy flowers, which have easy reach nectar. They act as pollinators like bees and hoverflies.
They also like ripe fruit and sap from tree trunks.
 The hunting wasps do later in the season (insects, spiders or scavenged meat from sandwiches or carcasses) is not for the adult wasps to eat but for their carnivorous larvae, which will feed on chewed up meat or insects and exude a sugary substance for the adult wasps.

 I do not really know what wasps are up to in my cherry tree (photos above from 28th and 29th of march). They do not visit the flowers but the emerging leaf buds. Are they searching for the nectaries? I doubt it. The photos show they seem interested in the bud covering leaflets. I'd be interested to hear if you know what wasps are getting out of it.