What has happened to my oak post?

[fobos]

Hi all

I have some oak posts in an outbuilding in my garden. They are airdried and were bought from British Hardwoods. I didn't apply a finish to them as I like the grey look.

I fitted them in spring last year.

Around May this year I noticed small light brown lines appearing. There's a lot more of them now. They feel furry/rough whereas the rest of the post is smooth. Please see the attached photo.

Anyone know what they are and what is going on?

Kind regards, Andrwe

 

[imageel]

I am pretty certain this is caused by wood scraping wasps who use the pulp to build their nests. Typically as with yours they will work along the grain....
The variety I had were Belgian I am told, and they can create quite devastating damage in some cases, but seem to not like Cedar so when I had a load flying in and out of my cedar shingled workshop eves I was not too concerned.... that is until I realised they were flying in empty handed yet flying out with yellow/orange lumps attached... It transpired they were excavating the Celotex foam in my roof to make room for their nest. I did then nuke them with some evil nest killer....
This year I have noticed a steady stream of pollen laden bumble bees entering my underfloor area - my shop is suspended on 12 concrete piers, and leaving sans their loads and as they don't bother me I have left them alone, quite a few mis-judge the entrance and try the keyholes or the shop itself if the door is open however they soon realise their mistake and fly lower into their nest.
I can't offer any advice to a deterrent - perhaps others better informed can...

 

[Fitzroy]

I’d second the wasps as the culprit. The light lines are the timber colour showing through where the wasps have chewed the surface off.

 

[kinverkid]

Yep. Wasps. They often gather the raised grain on our Oak decking posts. They're not interested in the Pine table though. Wood snobs.

 

[Lard]

Definitely wasps.....I've sat and watched them do exactly the same to our decking

 

[stateit]

Not entirely on subject, but sort of: This is a group of pics of a wasp building a nest on the OSB on the inside of my shed roof. Persistent little bugger.
Taken over the course of a couple of hours.

 

[Rhossydd]

Almost certainly wasps. A new teak seat without any finish here was getting attacked in our garden, a coat of Danish oil has stopped that (when it's coler I'll add a second coat too).
Although it will look a bit 'finished' when first done, it will weather down in time.

 

[Cabinetman]

This is made the same way except hornets this time in America, quite beautiful but they definitely had to go!

 

[Stigmorgan]

This is made the same way except hornets this time in America, quite beautiful but they definitely had to go!

Set in resin that would make an interesting bowl blank

 

[Cabinetman]

Well that’s an original thought. But even though all dead I don’t think I would get that close to them!

 

[MikeJhn]

Big difference between Bees and Wasps, not half as interesting.

 

[Fitzroy]

I’d second the wasps as the culprit. The light lines are the timber colour showing through where the wasps have chewed the surface off.

Rather off topic now but I first noticed the wasps chewing the wood many years ago in a garden with large fence panels. Sat outside in the summer my wife and I could hear 'someone' chewing, after much investigation we found it was wasps on the fence panels which must have been acting like sounding boards and amplifying the noise to a detectable level.

 

[MarkAW]

I've had the same with insect life eating the dried leaves in the border late at night when there's not much other noise. Took a while figuring out where the noise was coming from

 

[stuart little]

I had bees stuffing chewed up leaves into unused tensioner holes in my concrete fence-posts.

 

[SimonStevensCanes]

I had bees stuffing chewed up leaves into unused tensioner holes in my concrete fence-posts.

Solitary bees use holes to rear their young in if I understand correctly, or maybe it's just overwintering. Anyway, you'll often find any deep holes have been covered over, or the remnants of a covered over hole that has been eaten out of. That's what the bamboo poles in "bee/insect hotels" are for.

 

[Deekmac]

I had bees stuffing chewed up leaves into unused tensioner holes in my concrete fence-posts.

Leaf cutter bees, a species of solitary bee that lays eggs in holes and plugs the end with pieces of leaves, similar to the mason bee which does the same but plugs them with mud, good little guys to have in your garden up there with the best of the pollinators!