Has anyone experience of this? Two wooden sheds, bought from the Focus
DIY chain of stores, about two years ago, are literally being consumed
at present by wasps! They have not partaken of this apparently
delicious wood in either of the last two summers.

A wasp lands on any external part of the wooden sheds and proceeds to
eat and crawl at the same time so as to produce a guage or indented
crevice about a millimetre deep and up to three centimetres in length.
The wasp lands so that it's head is facing upwards and it then proceeds
to eat and crawl in an upwards direction and with the grain of the wood.

When the sheds were purchased they were a golden brown colour,
presumably some kind of protective waxy coating. The wood is now
"seasoned", I suppose, it has turned grey and is not waxy to the touch.
Perhaps it is time to give them another coat of wood preservative. I
never thought that would have to be done to ward off wasps though!

Any information and advice would be much appreciated.

Ellie.

"Ellie Bentley" wrote in message
...
Has anyone experience of this? Two wooden sheds, bought from the Focus
DIY chain of stores, about two years ago, are literally being consumed
at present by wasps! They have not partaken of this apparently
delicious wood in either of the last two summers.

A wasp lands on any external part of the wooden sheds and proceeds to
eat and crawl at the same time so as to produce a guage or indented
crevice about a millimetre deep and up to three centimetres in length.
The wasp lands so that it's head is facing upwards and it then proceeds
to eat and crawl in an upwards direction and with the grain of the wood.

When the sheds were purchased they were a golden brown colour,
presumably some kind of protective waxy coating. The wood is now
"seasoned", I suppose, it has turned grey and is not waxy to the touch.
Perhaps it is time to give them another coat of wood preservative. I
never thought that would have to be done to ward off wasps though!

Any information and advice would be much appreciated.

Ellie.



They make their paper nests from the chewed wood. There may be a nest near
by.

Dave
--
"Statistics are like a bikini. What they reveal is interesting. What they
conceal is vital. "

Ellie Bentley wrote:
Has anyone experience of this? Two wooden sheds, bought from the Focus
DIY chain of stores, about two years ago, are literally being consumed
at present by wasps! They have not partaken of this apparently
delicious wood in either of the last two summers.

A wasp lands on any external part of the wooden sheds and proceeds to
eat and crawl at the same time so as to produce a guage or indented
crevice about a millimetre deep and up to three centimetres in length.
The wasp lands so that it's head is facing upwards and it then proceeds
to eat and crawl in an upwards direction and with the grain of the wood.

When the sheds were purchased they were a golden brown colour,
presumably some kind of protective waxy coating. The wood is now
"seasoned", I suppose, it has turned grey and is not waxy to the touch.
Perhaps it is time to give them another coat of wood preservative. I
never thought that would have to be done to ward off wasps though!

Any information and advice would be much appreciated.

Ellie.

Very common in the early part of the year as they use the chewed wood
to make their nests. They don't take a great deal of the wood, I've
seen posts that have been used for many years showing little real
signs.
Mike

Ellie Bentley wrote:
Has anyone experience of this?

Ho yes! Last year, I kept showing to everyone the little lines of eaten
woods on our front gate. This year I saw them doing it to the bench.
But last year I had to call the council because we found the nest in
the holly tree and it scared me to bits .... A huge ball, magnificent
thing really, built around a branch. We stayed indoor while the chap
pumped lots of smoke and took the nest down by first cutting the
branch. It was free too. This year we're still trying to find out where
they are nesting. If it's very close to were we eat/live then I'll
destroy it but if it's in the roof or in the hedges, I'll leave it.

Ellie Bentley wrote:
Has anyone experience of this? Two wooden sheds, bought from the Focus
DIY chain of stores, about two years ago, are literally being consumed
at present by wasps! They have not partaken of this apparently
delicious wood in either of the last two summers.

Yes, I assisted in filming this for (IIRC) Attenborough's The Private
Life of Plants. It makes a great paper pulp!

It's amusing when friends are around sitting at your garden table and
puzzled by the scraping sound.


Richard.


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