A Mud Dauber Wasp in our garden

I was working in the terrace garden, tending soil in the antherium pot .... suddenly heard the typical buzzzzz.....  and looked up. She was there ... just in front of me at eye level ..... gliding in the wind .... shining brightly in the morning sun. I have seen wasps earlier but she was one of a kind ....at least I have never seen this combination earlier! A bright yellow banded with jade black and a perfect waist line (literally).....  you have to admire her beauty even if you hate wasps! I immediately reached out for my camera and tried to shoot her .... failed....tried to focus again ... and she vanished! Conveniently blaming my old camera I concentrated in my gardening. While turning the pot I noticed a small mud construction with an open mouth ... a wasp's nest!

The thing that raised my curiosity was a green band inside the nest ... what it may be I wonder ..... then forgot about it and went inside for some time. when I came back I saw the open mouth of the nest was already plastered with some fresh mud .... being a little surprised I looked around and saw her again. Oh .. well .... it was HER nest and last time I played the role of a villain prohibiting her to come to her nest! Sorry buddy ....but now she seems not to care me any more and got busy with her work. I comfortably seated myself with my camera and started watching her.

Have you ever seen someone working so focused that she doesn't care about anything around her. It is a complete meditative process that automatically draws attention and admiration!
First she closed the main entry properly, then a side window and finally started working on  every nooks and corners of that little mud house .... checking and plastering again and again. Her kids are inside so she must be sure about its utmost safety. Carefully she was checking all the bumps and corners ... plastering and then vanishing in our neighbor's garden to bring a fresh ball of mud. It was a looong process ..... after one hour or so me and my camera both were feeling hot and tired under the sun but she never showed any sign of fatigue. Doing the same thing again and again ceremoniously but with complete absorption. Finally I retired and came inside. Till then I did not know its name .... so did some google search (here and here) and got some interesting information about this beauty:

The black and yellow mud doubers are solitary wasps and they prefer not to sting because of their peaceful nature. (good to know! Well, I was so mesmerized by its look and act that completely forgot to be scared abut it's sting:))
Their nests are very interesting .... they make their nests with mud balls in some sheltered location. (that's why the name mud dauber)These nests comprise up to 25 cylindrical cells arranged vertically. Each cell contains one egg. Usually several cells are clumped together and covered in mud. After building a cell of the nest, the female wasp captures several spiders. To capture a spider, the wasp grabs it and stings it into submission. The venom from the sting does not kill the spider, but paralyzes and preserves it so it can be transported and stored in the nest cell until consumed by the larva.

The preserved spiders inside a Dauber's nest .... Photo Courtesy: MC Paul Barman

 A mud dauber usually lays its egg on the prey item and then seals it into the nest cell with a mud cap. After only a few days,the egg hatches. the larva will eat the insect put in the mud cell for food. After three weeks or so, it will spin a cocoon in the cell and remain in the cocoon over the winter and emerge in the spring from the cell as an adult wasp.

Oh! .... it seems I already missed a lot  .... building the nest and most interestingly stuffing it with the spiders (sounds morbid?!) .... was hoping to see the kids emerging from the nest soon..... but it looks like I have to wait the whole winter for that!
I have seen many people just casually removing the wasp nest from their walls even if it was not creating any disturbance .... we human beings are so intolerant about anything that apparently has no direct use in our life! I wonder if someone comes to realize how much effort, craftsmanship and dedication have been put together to build that tiny nest, (s)he will think twice before committing that violence!

If you are not already bored enough, watch my first YouTube video here to see the artist in action!

When bidding goodbye I whispered to her ..... "will you come back ever to see how your kids are doing?" 
"No ..... I will never come back," she said.
"But .... don't you want to see them when they will emerge ... your next generation?"
"The bow will send forth the arrows in perfection but will not run after it!" ..... she answered with an air of prophecy!
 "..... suppose the food you kept was not sufficient... then? .... And there is a weather forecast .....unseasonal rain is predicted in next couple of days! what if the kids get in trouble? "
She paused for a moment .... hovering in the air ... and said ... "Whatever it is ..... I did my BEST .... now LET IT GO!"

Buzzzzzzzzzz ......

Within a moment she disappeared in her future ........

Shall I care to learn a small piece of life lesson from this tiny creature! Or ..... for instance .... will I come back to this post time to time to see how many people have read my article? 

P.S. Whatever images of the "Black and Yellow mud dauber wasp" I could find on web are not exactly similar to the one I saw. The pattern of the Yellow Jacket wasps comes close, but they don't have the signature thread like waist and most importantly they don't make mud nest. Though I strongly believe that the one I saw was a Black and Yellow Mud Dauber ...... is there any other thought?