Wasps eating our bench!
Discussion
We have a very nice out door teak bench which is slowly being eaten by wasps. The damage is only cosmetic and I imagine it would take many, many years before they could eat enough to cause any kind of structural problem. But it is a nice bench & it's irritating that it's being disfigured, it's also irritating that you can't sit on it without having to cope with half a dozen wasps trying to get at their lunch. It there anyway to keep the little blighters away?
PS I know they're not eating it for nutrition, but rather just collecting building material for their nest.
PS I know they're not eating it for nutrition, but rather just collecting building material for their nest.
As you say, they're collecting cellulose to build their nest.
If you can find the nest, you can destroy it (kill it with fire etc. or have a pest controller do it but DIY is really easy, just douse the entrance with insect powder at night for a day or two and they'll track the poison straight in) or paint the bench with something to seal off the wood from the wasps.
We have a teak table they love, and I've tried various products but none seems to stop them - the only solution was to varnish the table, which spoils the effect of the wood but at least means we can eat outdoors again.
If you can find the nest, you can destroy it (kill it with fire etc. or have a pest controller do it but DIY is really easy, just douse the entrance with insect powder at night for a day or two and they'll track the poison straight in) or paint the bench with something to seal off the wood from the wasps.
We have a teak table they love, and I've tried various products but none seems to stop them - the only solution was to varnish the table, which spoils the effect of the wood but at least means we can eat outdoors again.
Mark Benson said:
As you say, they're collecting cellulose to build their nest.
If you can find the nest, you can destroy it (kill it with fire etc. or have a pest controller do it but DIY is really easy, just douse the entrance with insect powder at night for a day or two and they'll track the poison straight in) or paint the bench with something to seal off the wood from the wasps.
We have a teak table they love, and I've tried various products but none seems to stop them - the only solution was to varnish the table, which spoils the effect of the wood but at least means we can eat outdoors again.
Ah good idea! I think I know where the nest is, so I'll give the insect powder a go.If you can find the nest, you can destroy it (kill it with fire etc. or have a pest controller do it but DIY is really easy, just douse the entrance with insect powder at night for a day or two and they'll track the poison straight in) or paint the bench with something to seal off the wood from the wasps.
We have a teak table they love, and I've tried various products but none seems to stop them - the only solution was to varnish the table, which spoils the effect of the wood but at least means we can eat outdoors again.
Our bench is/was a very nice one, so I'm not keen on the varnish route for the same reason you identify.
1. Give your own bench some bad reviews on waspadvisor so they'll try somewhere else.
2. Collect some greenfly and attach them to next door's bench.
3. Dip a spool of thread in some jam and wrap it round the branches of a tree far from your bench, creating a mini assault course for them.
2. Collect some greenfly and attach them to next door's bench.
3. Dip a spool of thread in some jam and wrap it round the branches of a tree far from your bench, creating a mini assault course for them.
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