It has been noted by Evans (1963a), Michener and Michener (1951), and others that even protected subterranean colonies of vespids rarely persist beyond early fall. However, unusual activity in a large aerial nest of the yellow jacket Vespula maculifrons (Buysson) was noted by us on December 1, 1966. Although of a primarily terrestrial species, the colony was in a stack of empty be supers in an unheated barn loft. The paper nest completely filled the interior of 4 shallow supers and measured 14¾×19¼×19 in. The ambient temperature in the barn was similar to the outside temperature.