Worried about wasps in your wood deck? Wood wasps can cause major damage to wooden furniture. Here’s how to keep wasps away from wood deck and fences. If you have any concerns, its best to call a professional right away before too much damage is done.
What Kind of Wasps are Attracted To Wood?
A vast range of wasp species is attracted to wooden objects and surfaces, usually for nesting. Like female carpenter bees, wood wasps also bore deep holes into wood using their ovipositor and lay eggs inside.
The term “wood wasps” refers to a variety of wasps that begin and end their life cycles in wood. Although they usually prefer decaying trees, damaged wood decks and fences attract them too.
Social wasps that build nests for their colonies, such as yellow jackets and paper wasps, are attracted to wood as well.
If you have ever examined a wasp nest up close, you may notice the material is somewhat similar to paper. This is because the wasps build them using pulp made from wood dust.
These wasps use their claws to scrape wood from wood decks, fences, and dead trees. They then chew the scraped wood into pulp and use it to build the nest.
How can you keep them away from your wood fence and deck?
Wood Wasp: Urocerus albicornis
Coat and seal the wood properly
Firstly, wasps attack weathered and exposed wood surfaces that would be easy to dig into.
One of the most practical ways to keep them away is to give the wood a coat of paint and seal it with a stain or wood sealant.
This will deny the wasps a suitable wooden surface to attack.
Although this method is relatively more expensive, it’s a good idea since you should keep your deck and fence properly sealed anyway.
Exposed wood is highly prone to moisture and weather elements and might start rotting.
Hang up a decoy wasp nest
This is a clever way to prevent wasps from building nests around your home, let alone digging your deck for materials.
Remember, wasps are territorial and usually don’t build nests near another colony. By hanging up fake wasp nests around your deck or fence, you can trick them into thinking that there’s already a wasp colony living there.
This will cause them to fly away elsewhere to find a place to build their nest or forage for food.
Most wasps do not prefer to build their nests around those of other wasps because it leads to competition for resources.
However, a major drawback of this method is that it wouldn’t be of much help in case the wasps have already built active nests on or near your property.
Use an essential oil spray
If you aren’t a fan of using chemical pest repellants, you could instead use a natural spray made from essential oils.
As you might know, essential oils are great for keeping away a variety of insects. Now, spray this solution over your deck, fence, and porch. Alternatively, you may also use a natural and eco-friendly pest repellant that has peppermint oil in it.
Avoid swatting them
When you encounter a wasp on your property, your first instinct might be to grab something and swat the wasp with it.
This isn’t advisable, as you may end up attracting more wasps this way.
When you kill wasps or even attack them, they release pheromones to alert other wasps in the area about the threat.
The pheromones also act as a signal for an attack on their nests, which means others from their colony might come in aggressively.
Add plants that repel wasps
This is a solution that will help you keep away wasps while improving the aesthetics of your deck area.
Plants like thyme, spearmint, citronella, and lemongrass repel various insects, including wasps.
Adding these plants to your deck will act as a long-term solution against wasps. You may also plant eucalyptus trees in your garden for similar results.
Since it’s quite easy to care for these plants, this is a viable option for most people.
Use a commercial wasp spray
If the wasps have built a nest on your property, you can use a commercial wasp spray to clear it out by killing them.
Identify the entrance of the nest and unload the wasp spray into it. This usually kills their queen and, consequently, the rest of the colony.
However, be very careful while doing this – wasps defend their nests aggressively, and even a single wasp sting can be very painful.
It’s best to spray a wasp nest at night, as wasps are active mostly during the day.
Call in a professional
If you are dealing with a large colony of wasps and it’s too dangerous to clear out the nests by yourself, contact pest control specialists instead.
They use professional-grade products and equipment for a thorough and safe wasp treatment. Besides getting rid of the wasp nests, they can also treat your property with the necessary repellants.
Wood Wasp
Enclose the deck with insect netting
You can also keep wasps out of your wood deck by using insect netting to enclose the area.
Home improvements and gardening stores sell large insect nets and tents that you can use for this.
Although this depends on the size of your deck area, generally, you should be able to cover the whole perimeter with the netting.
Don’t leave your trash accessible to wasps
Although this doesn’t relate directly to the wasps’ attraction to wooden structures, storing your trash securely will help reduce wasp visits.
After all, trash bins are usually smelly and might attract wasps looking for food. This can eventually lead them to your wood deck or fence too.
If you need to leave the trash can outdoors, keep the lid tightly sealed and place it away from your deck, preferably on the opposite side of your home.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What can you put on wood to keep wasps away?
To keep wasps away from wooden decks and fences, you can spray the wood with essential oils diluted with water.
Eco-friendly wasp repellants work too. If the underside of the wood is accessible, you can rub a bath soap against it to repel wasps.
How do I keep wasps away from my fence?
Treating your fence with peppermint oil or a mix of essential oils will help deter wasps from coming close.
Since your fence stays exposed to weather elements all the time, it’s also recommended to coat it with a sealant.
This will not only protect it against heat and moisture but will also make the fence unattractive to wasps.
How do I get rid of wasps flying around my deck?
Spraying wasps flying around your deck with soapy water can kill them instantly.
You may also use natural wasp repellants or install an ultrasonic pest repellent to keep them away. Adding plants that repel wasps naturally can help too.
If the wasps are here for the first time, it might mean they are scouting for a location for their nest. In this case, a decoy nest will do the trick.
Why are wasps attracted to my wood fence?
Wasps are attracted to your wood fence because it provides them with a crucial material for building their nests – wood pulp.
They scrape off wood particles and chew them into pulp. In case you find a solitary wasp digging into the fence, it’s usually a wood wasp making a hole to lay eggs in.
Wrap Up
By now, you can see that there are plenty of ways to deal with wasps. Like bee traps, you can also use homemade wasp traps if you want to get rid of wasps without killing them.
Thanks for reading, and we hope you can now figure out the best way to repel or eliminate wasps attracted to your fence or deck.
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24 Comments. Leave new
Hi
I live in Alberta, Canada, just North of Calgary. My family and I were out camping by Water Valley, and came across this wasp.
I would like to know where did it come from? For it is not around here and what will it do to the wasps and bees that are native to here? For there are a lot of these wasps out there.
Kim Morton
Hi
I live in Alberta, Canada, just North of Calgary. My family and I were out camping by Water Valley, and came across this wasp.
I would like to know where did it come from? For it is not around here and what will it do to the wasps and bees that are native to here? For there are a lot of these wasps out there.
Kim Morton
I have just found a large wood wasp in my garden, I must admit I have never seen anything so big it looked like four wasps in one. Are they dangerous.
I have just had one of these in my garden, also in the knutsford area. (Pickmere)
Just seen a wood wasp in my garden having a go at a conifer stump. I live near Leeds West yorkshire
Found this bug, (photo on link, I couldn’t workout how to send the photo here) I found it dead in the green house this morning. Not really sure what it is, I have never found anything like it before.
Thanks for your help in advance.
By the way I live in the midlands in the UK
Found this bug, (photo on link, I couldn’t workout how to send the photo here) I found it dead in the green house this morning. Not really sure what it is, I have never found anything like it before.
Thanks for your help in advance.
By the way I live in the midlands in the UK
Pretty!
From first point of insertion to complete withdrawal occupied ten minutes. The insect then moved off again, but once more the ovipositor was slipped from its sheath and driven for its full length into the wood ; in this case the operation taking a little longer, twelve minutes until complete withdrawal.
Do you know if it repopulates quickly? I recently came back from a wedding in Montana and passed through Idaho on my way back. Somehow, we found maybe 4 of these guys in our car when we got home in Oregon. We killed them immediately, but just hope they haven’t started to reproduce
We believe we have read that the life cycle takes several years. According to BugGuide: “larval development may take 1 to 3 years to complete depending on species and climate.” Based on what we know about the climate of Montana, we are guessing that the cold winters would extend the larval stage to the three year span. According to Bug Eric: “It usually takes more than one year for the horntail to complete metamorphosis.”
I just found some Xiphydriid Wood Wasps near Rochester Michigan May 23 2017 never saw one before had to search the net but got an ID they were on a box containing maple fire wood, they almost do not look like a wasp and they walk around calmly.
was not stung but did also saw one of these in west hartford, CT
My wife and I just found the same type of wasps here in Michigan could anybody tell me what their range is
According to BugGuide data, they are found over much of North America, including Michigan.
I just found one of these rather beautiful insects on my deck and had to look him up. Thanks for having such an easy to use web site and clear pictures so that I could identify him.
Is this the same as a banded horntail? I was camping in kananaskis in Alberta and saw a few big guys around my campfire! Scared me and my friend.
This Wood Wasp is a Horntail, but we have not heard the common name Banded Horntail.
Hi there I was in the Scottish Highlands in Braemar when I was hit by a one of these monsters I was walking in a heavily wooded pine forest when it latched onto my jacket and quickly reacted to brush it off and took a photo never seen anything as big as that that before.
1. What is the normal size, of just the body as well as the body and appendage (stinger?) of the Wood Wasp as might be found in South Central Alaska, Anchorage area?
2. Are the aggressive?
I found one in Owensville Mo
I found one in Illinois. Scared us to death at first!
This looks a lot like a bee that I saw flying by my front porch in south-central Alaska last year. I was totally freaked out because it was huge! Bigger than the large bumblebees that we have. In fact I thought it was a bumblebee hybrid. Not that I know anything about whether bees cross mate or not.
I just found one in BC Canada! It was motionless and presumed dead in our swimming pool and 30 minutes after taking it out it started moving! Cool bug, great website