Bald-faced hornet to laying eggs while the workers take over all other necessary housekeeping tasks. At some point, sometime before the midpoint of colony life, the colony will begin to invest energy in producing reproductives as well. This marks the transition into the reproductive stage. There is an extensive time period where both workers and reproductives are raised. Production of both castes limits the size of the work force. However, an early switching time is highly adaptive for social wasp colonies in limiting the risk of total loss. In a sampling of 50 colonies taken in Maryland in 1977, workers were produced
USS Hornet (CV-8) a halt, another damaged "Val" deliberately crashed into "Hornet"'s port side near the bow. With power knocked out to her engines, "Hornet" was unable to launch or land aircraft, forcing its aviators to either land on "Enterprise" or ditch in the ocean. Rear Admiral George D. Murray ordered the heavy cruiser to tow "Hornet" clear of the action. Since the Japanese planes were attacking "Enterprise", this allowed "Northampton" to tow "Hornet" at a speed of about . Repair crews were on the verge of restoring power when another flight of nine "Kate" torpedo planes attacked. Eight of these aircraft were