A yellow jacket queen is the most important part of the colony. The queen begins the colony anew each year. Every winter, a queen will hibernate from a colony that has died out. In the spring, she will begin to rebuild the yellow jackets' nest.
The yellow jacket queen begins the nest with cellulose or paper that she has chewed up. About the size of a golf ball, the nest created houses a few cells. The queen will lay eggs in these cells. Eventually, this small nest will have 30 to 55 cells, covered by a larger paper envelope.
The yellow jacket queen will continue to lay eggs. The first larvae to hatch will be 5 to 7 worker bees. These sterile females will take over the queen's nest building and larvae feeding duties. This leaves her free to produce more eggs.
Late in the season, queens and males will leave the nest to mate. The only yellow jackets that survive the winter are the inseminated females that will hibernate and begin the process over in the spring.