"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
. net...


Mary, I think you may have missed my point,


Sorry.

I don't care how much they take,
they seem to prefer the teak to the other wood in the garden, which
means
that I can't sit down and have a cup of tea without being harassed, I
just
want to discourge them from the furniture, have you any ideas?

Oh there are things which will repel them but they'd probably repel you
too
:-)

But if they're going for the teak they're not harassing you ...

For the last three weekends, it doesn't matter why, I've been in a
situation
where there have been dozens of wasps at any time. There have also been
dozens of people at any time - thousands in total.

Nobody was stung - well, except me on Sunday morning when I touched one
accidentally when I picked up something which, underneath, was being
investigated by the wasp. Wasps wouldn't investigate your china.

They were also coming to us when we were eating, carefully cutting lumps
of
meat from our bigger lump. It was fascinating. I took some pictures one
evening, shall I send them?

When people panicked I told them that if you can see the wasp it's no
problem.

And in your case I doubt that it will continue for much longer. Their
nests
won't be being added to much from now.

Note that
this is not one isolated chair, there are various bits of teak furniture
distributed around the garden.

I suggest that you watch them at their work while you can. They're
fascinating.

I don't particularIy like them (thanks for the photo offer) but have watched
them quite closely, they seem to like the silvered layer on the wood and
strip this part off to reveal the fresh wood beneath, typically they will
leave a little track about 2mm wide and about 25mm long, perhaps the
oxidised layer has certain properties they are after, they don't take the
fresh wood. Anyway, as you mention above there has been a decline in this
activity of late, and they are more interested in the food from the BBQ now,
I also watched one cutting off a piece of the scraps last Sat, it had to
rest nearby, obviously took a bit too much to carry!

Martin




Mary

Martin