This is a picture of a wasp eating my neighbour’s fence.

The pale streaks below her are where she has dined out on previous occasions. She will take this back to the nest where it will be used to make the paper for the nest.

Tricky.

Because if you put preservative on the fence, she won’t be able to eat it. Given that she and her friends will eventually weaken the fence beyond repair, that would take years or probably decades. On the other hand, despite their bad rep, wasps are extremely useful. They are very good pollinators and also have a function as predators, keeping down a lot of other insect pests.

Don’t worry, I won’t grass her up to my neighbour. If you do want to use preservative, perhaps you could leave a strip or two free for her lunch.