Have you observed wasps several times busily gnawing on wooden fence posts or your wooden garden furniture? Seen correctly. The animals actually ingest the wood with their mouthparts. But do they actually do it for culinary reasons?
Why do wasps eat wood?
Wasps do not eat wood as food, but simply gnaw it to use it as building material for their nests. They chew the collected wood with their saliva into a solid mass that becomes very hard when it dries.
Why wasps gnaw wood
Wasps have very powerful mouthparts. That much is clear. Anyone who has ever seen a wasp close-up will be able to confirm this. The mandibles, the upper jaws, can be seen very clearly here. It is easy to imagine that they can easily shred prey and even hard materials.
But is wood one of the favorite foods of wasps? The answer is of course no, because it is not nutritious. For their own and their larvae's energy needs, wasps only need sweet and protein-rich food in the form of flower nectar, plant juices, honeydew, insects - and also cake, ice cream and grilled meat from our garden tables.
So one thing is certain:
- Wasps feed exclusively on sweet and protein-containing food
- Wood is not on the menu
Wood as a building material
The animals also ingest wood orally, but they only collect it as building material for their nests. Mixing it with their saliva, they chew it into a mass which they form into brood chambers and which becomes very hard when it dries.
Depending on the type of wasp, different wood textures are preferred: Common wasps stick to rotten wood, which causes their nests to take on a beige color. German wasps, on the other hand, gnaw the half-weathered surfaces of wooden posts and furniture, making their nests appear grayish.
Does furniture get damaged?
Now you may be wondering whether your wooden furniture on the terrace needs special protection against wasps. Since they only use partially weathered wood to build their nests, signs of gnawing are more likely to show up on older furniture anyway. In order to avoid unsightly eating grooves, early prevention is necessary - for example by applying a wood protection glaze to tables and chairs (€23.00 on Amazon). This prevents the surface from weathering and also seals the fibers on top to form a harder layer.
What can also help in the short term is to rub the furniture with essential oils. The smell deters the wasps.