Wasp was a rather complex board game which Jaques published around 1894. The board had a central Honey Pot, and the characters consisted of one Wasp, nine Wasp Grubs and 45 Bees. The Bees were three colours, red, blue and green, 15 of each. An octagonal board had nests and a hive. The object was for bees to get to the Hive but dangers were in the way – the wasp could remove bees from play, move as it pleased and place Wasp Grubs in the Hive. The Rules seem very complicated and the Collection has no board so its not easy to envisage play. Jaques made Remarks on the game and had to tell new players that although it seemed an easy game for the predatory Wasp that this was not the case and those well acquainted with the game would find it more amusing. The Remarks highlight how exciting the game gets near the end when the Wasp must fill the hive with its Grubs and yet the bees can ‘turn the game at the end’. It seems that if a game needs such long explanations and encouragement to play it is not exactly a compelling one. The small metal grubs, bees and wasps were probably not to everyone’s taste either. There are two sets in the Collection with more pieces than necessary for play.