Wasps are turning the garden furniture into their nests! The problem is
that there are enough of them to make sitting/eating on the furniture rather
an unpleasant experience of late - does anyone have any ideas, we've tried
sprigs of herbs etc but to no effect, we would rather not use teak oil on
the furniture (prefer silvered look), I'm not sure if it would help in any
case.

Martin

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Martin Crook wrote:

Wasps are turning the garden furniture into their nests! The problem
is that there are enough of them to make sitting/eating on the
furniture rather an unpleasant experience of late - does anyone have
any ideas, we've tried sprigs of herbs etc but to no effect, we would
rather not use teak oil on the furniture (prefer silvered look), I'm
not sure if it would help in any case.

Martin

Find the nest and *EXTERMINATE* it. Sorry Mary!

--
Cheers,
Set Square
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is invalid.

Set Square wrote:
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Martin Crook wrote:

Wasps are turning the garden furniture into their nests! The problem
is that there are enough of them to make sitting/eating on the
furniture rather an unpleasant experience of late - does anyone have
any ideas, we've tried sprigs of herbs etc but to no effect, we would
rather not use teak oil on the furniture (prefer silvered look), I'm
not sure if it would help in any case.

Martin

Find the nest and *EXTERMINATE* it. Sorry Mary!

Is the OP sure that it's wasps? Anyway if they're drilling holes in
the furniture they aren't ordinary wasps and I suspect they're
solitary ones so finding a 'nest' will be a little difficult.

--
Chris Green

wrote in message ...
Set Square wrote:
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Martin Crook wrote:

Wasps are turning the garden furniture into their nests! The problem
is that there are enough of them to make sitting/eating on the
furniture rather an unpleasant experience of late - does anyone have
any ideas, we've tried sprigs of herbs etc but to no effect, we would
rather not use teak oil on the furniture (prefer silvered look), I'm
not sure if it would help in any case.

Martin

Find the nest and *EXTERMINATE* it. Sorry Mary!

Is the OP sure that it's wasps? Anyway if they're drilling holes in
the furniture they aren't ordinary wasps and I suspect they're
solitary ones so finding a 'nest' will be a little difficult.



yeah, it's wasp-like behaviour, IMO(bserved)E...

They can often be seen scratching away at fence panels, and the likes. I
think that if they're not attracted to the resin (and I don't think that
this is the attraction) then they're gathering the raw building material for
their papery nests.

Not sure what the OP could do. I'd wonder about experimenting and finely
spraying the chairs with an aromatic compound that might put the wasps off
and not affect the furniture. One of the Tea Tree products would be my
starter for 10, it might not take very much of it to put them off. On the
other hand they may not take any notice of it at all.


Whatever the OP does, I'd try it out on only one bit of furniture first,
probably the cheapest part of the set, and then observe to see if it does
deter them.

--
Richard Sampson

email me at
richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
wrote:

Set Square wrote:
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Martin Crook wrote:

Wasps are turning the garden furniture into their nests! The
problem is that there are enough of them to make sitting/eating on
the furniture rather an unpleasant experience of late - does anyone
have any ideas, we've tried sprigs of herbs etc but to no effect,
we would rather not use teak oil on the furniture (prefer silvered
look), I'm not sure if it would help in any case.

Martin

Find the nest and *EXTERMINATE* it. Sorry Mary!

Is the OP sure that it's wasps? Anyway if they're drilling holes in
the furniture they aren't ordinary wasps and I suspect they're
solitary ones so finding a 'nest' will be a little difficult.

Well, I've just had to have a wasp nest destroyed in my attic - and the man
who did it told me that the nest was made of chewed up bits of fence panel.

--
Cheers,
Set Square
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is invalid.

In message , RichardS
writes
wrote in message ...
Set Square wrote:
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Martin Crook wrote:

Wasps are turning the garden furniture into their nests! The problem
is that there are enough of them to make sitting/eating on the
furniture rather an unpleasant experience of late - does anyone have
any ideas, we've tried sprigs of herbs etc but to no effect, we would
rather not use teak oil on the furniture (prefer silvered look), I'm
not sure if it would help in any case.

Martin

Find the nest and *EXTERMINATE* it. Sorry Mary!

Is the OP sure that it's wasps? Anyway if they're drilling holes in
the furniture they aren't ordinary wasps and I suspect they're
solitary ones so finding a 'nest' will be a little difficult.



yeah, it's wasp-like behaviour, IMO(bserved)E...

They can often be seen scratching away at fence panels, and the likes. I
think that if they're not attracted to the resin (and I don't think that
this is the attraction) then they're gathering the raw building material for
their papery nests.

Not sure what the OP could do. I'd wonder about experimenting and finely
spraying the chairs with an aromatic compound that might put the wasps off
and not affect the furniture. One of the Tea Tree products would be my
starter for 10, it might not take very much of it to put them off. On the
other hand they may not take any notice of it at all.

Using a bit of lateral thinking....

if The OP was to put some softer "sacrificial" wood out for them to
munch, maybe they'll change their eating habits

just a thought




Whatever the OP does, I'd try it out on only one bit of furniture first,
probably the cheapest part of the set, and then observe to see if it does
deter them.


--
geoff

"raden" wrote in message
...
In message , RichardS
writes
wrote in message ...
Set Square wrote:
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Martin Crook wrote:

Wasps are turning the garden furniture into their nests! The
problem
is that there are enough of them to make sitting/eating on the
furniture rather an unpleasant experience of late - does anyone
have
any ideas, we've tried sprigs of herbs etc but to no effect, we
would
rather not use teak oil on the furniture (prefer silvered look),
I'm
not sure if it would help in any case.

Martin

Find the nest and *EXTERMINATE* it. Sorry Mary!

Is the OP sure that it's wasps? Anyway if they're drilling holes in
the furniture they aren't ordinary wasps and I suspect they're
solitary ones so finding a 'nest' will be a little difficult.



yeah, it's wasp-like behaviour, IMO(bserved)E...

They can often be seen scratching away at fence panels, and the likes.
I
think that if they're not attracted to the resin (and I don't think that
this is the attraction) then they're gathering the raw building material
for
their papery nests.

Not sure what the OP could do. I'd wonder about experimenting and
finely
spraying the chairs with an aromatic compound that might put the wasps
off
and not affect the furniture. One of the Tea Tree products would be my
starter for 10, it might not take very much of it to put them off. On
the
other hand they may not take any notice of it at all.

Using a bit of lateral thinking....

if The OP was to put some softer "sacrificial" wood out for them to
munch, maybe they'll change their eating habits

just a thought




Whatever the OP does, I'd try it out on only one bit of furniture first,
probably the cheapest part of the set, and then observe to see if it does
deter them.


--
geoff

In response to all , they are definately wasps and wev'e killed about three
nests in the near area. The council will be dealing with the german wasps
in the little shed - 30mm long and very mean looking. They don't really
drill holes, just scratch a track along the surface - it shows up well on
weathered teak because they remove the top silver layer - Iv'e seen this
behaviour many times and they do seem to like teak, or mabe they
particularly like the top oxidised surface because it's easier for them to
fashion into nests. There is lots of other wood around in the garden, I may
try some Tea Tree type spray, but hopefuly this won't have to be repeated
every time it rains!

Martin

"Martin Crook" wrote in message
...
Wasps are turning the garden furniture into their nests! The problem is
that there are enough of them to make sitting/eating on the furniture
rather
an unpleasant experience of late - does anyone have any ideas, we've tried
sprigs of herbs etc but to no effect, we would rather not use teak oil on
the furniture (prefer silvered look), I'm not sure if it would help in any
case.

They're not eating it.

Do you really begrudge the very small amount they take?

How much do you take of the Earth's resources for your comfort?

Mary

Martin

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
. net

They're not eating it.
Do you really begrudge the very small amount they take?
How much do you take of the Earth's resources for your comfort?

I agree. They sound like hornets btw. They may take softer wood it's
just that the furniture is in a good spot. They may be trying to get at
the teak or whatever it is and failing. That stuff was used on sailing
ships as it was impervious to teredo worms untreated. Oak needed
coppering or decades of drying.



--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG

Michael Mcneil wrote:

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
. net


They're not eating it.
Do you really begrudge the very small amount they take?
How much do you take of the Earth's resources for your comfort?


I agree. They sound like hornets btw. They may take softer wood it's
just that the furniture is in a good spot. They may be trying to get at
the teak or whatever it is and failing. That stuff was used on sailing
ships as it was impervious to teredo worms untreated. Oak needed
coppering or decades of drying.

...which is pretty hard to do if its floating on the sea...

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

"Martin Crook" wrote in message
...
Wasps are turning the garden furniture into their nests! The problem is
that there are enough of them to make sitting/eating on the furniture
rather
an unpleasant experience of late - does anyone have any ideas, we've
tried
sprigs of herbs etc but to no effect, we would rather not use teak oil
on
the furniture (prefer silvered look), I'm not sure if it would help in
any
case.

They're not eating it.
I know this, I presumed they were using it to build nests.

Do you really begrudge the very small amount they take?
Not at all

How much do you take of the Earth's resources for your comfort?

Mary, I think you may have missed my point, 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? Note that
this is not one isolated chair, there are various bits of teak furniture
distributed around the garden.

Martin

On Mon, 9 Aug 2004 21:27:27 +0000 (UTC), "Michael Mcneil"
wrote:

I agree. They sound like hornets btw. They may take softer wood it's
just that the furniture is in a good spot. They may be trying to get at
the teak or whatever it is and failing. That stuff was used on sailing
ships as it was impervious to teredo worms untreated. Oak needed
coppering or decades of drying.

I feel that teak garden furniture is a waste of teak, but each to
their own...

cheers,
Pete.

In article ,
Pete C wrote:

I feel that teak garden furniture is a waste of teak, but each to
their own...

A couple of years ago one of our local garden
centres had garden furniture outside, made from
a beautiful looking hardwood. But it was nailed
together, and the nails were rusting even before
it had been sold.

--
Tony Williams.

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.

Mary

Martin

Martin Crook wrote:

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

"Martin Crook" wrote in message
...

Wasps are turning the garden furniture into their nests! The problem is
that there are enough of them to make sitting/eating on the furniture

rather

an unpleasant experience of late - does anyone have any ideas, we've

tried

sprigs of herbs etc but to no effect, we would rather not use teak oil

on

the furniture (prefer silvered look), I'm not sure if it would help in

any

case.

They're not eating it.

I know this, I presumed they were using it to build nests.

Do you really begrudge the very small amount they take?

Not at all

How much do you take of the Earth's resources for your comfort?


Mary, I think you may have missed my point, 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? Note that
this is not one isolated chair, there are various bits of teak furniture
distributed around the garden.

It's the mercury in your brain along with teh cotton wool, plus the
smell of Fear that attracts them.

Or possibly something in your jeans....

Martin

"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