Inside the Wasps' Byke

After weeks of looking on in horrified fascination as a wasps' nest took shape in our porch, I finally called the wasp removal man.
There's an innate beauty in the dome-like structure which these insects create. They sure know how to sculpt...
The old Scots word for a wasps' nest is byke. It's also the word for a haystack and you can see why one segues into the other.
Our nest had doubled in size over the course of a fortnight and even though the wasps weren't bothering us (too busy creating) it would eventually have become a major pest.
After the wasp man had sprayed the nest, we had to leave it for a bit as all the wasps - and larvae - had to die. Otherwise we would've been stung big time!
I took this picture after I prodded the byke with the end of a brush handle and after a few bashes it fell to the ground.
It's such a light; almost airless structure. Inside, the tiny cells, which play host to the larvae, reveal a tessellated pattern.
M.C. Escher would have approved...