Wasp workers, the ones you see around in late summer, live for no more than two or three weeks on average. Two of the little buggers stung me on the chest when I was innocently picking an apple a couple of years ago (I must have unintentionally annoyed them), but on the whole I mix it with 'em with impunity and they rarely bother me and I get cross with anyone who jumps and swats around in panic as soon as they see one. I love to see and hear them scraping the wood off my fence when I'm sitting in the sun. They are incredibly beautiful close up and I've taken some lovely photos of them. They work like Trojans in the early part of the summer, but the late summer ones are a bit redundant, so no wonder they join the Red Admirals on the windfalls getting pissed for free. 😂