Yep, I found a hunk of walnut that I stashed with my other lumber and found the tail-tell signs - little pin holes.Beetles. Damn.
I have ordered TimBor insecticide based on a recommendation but, wonder if I set off some fumigation bombs would that help as well? I am looking to drag out all the lumber and spraying it vs just setting off the bombs.
Suggestions?
MJ
Insects, and their eggs, die at elevated temperature. If you can get your woodpile to 160F for a few hours (hot day, sunlight, black plastic... you'll think of something), that's how a kiln-dried board gets insect-free.
The temperature has to get high in the WHOLE PILE, preferably at the same time, or the bugs will move around in musical chairs fashion.
TimBor should be readily available in most locales.
It's the larvae emerging from the wood. Your wood was infected sometime in the past. Google "powder post beetle life cycle" and read up, ie., and take measures for preventative maintenance, if possible.
Sonny
We bought a wood carving several years ago and soon noticed the little piles of beetle poop. My wife microwaved it and killed all those little suckers. Now if you can find a microwave large enough to load a stack of lumber in....
Commercial microwave. Hospital and Food Services use them. I'm sure it's a waste of time getting temporary use of a hospital microwave, but he may be able to find a food service for a fee.
I thought 28"Hg of vacuum might explode the little buggers... but nope.. just heat.
When we lived in a Redwood Forest, we wanted a nice monster coffee table. Paid our money and he said he would deliver in 4 days. All of his stuff (and all wood workers) had to have their project gassed. Just the same stuff they gas a house with when they bag a house. We got our certificate and away we go.
I think a large overseas shipping crate was used - it was air tight with gaskets. A safety protection was in the door - a pop-in plug - draw to much vacuum which was drawn and then the gas let in. The gas penetrates the eggs directly. It was expensive but was part of the expensive price.
Martin
I once worked at a mill that operated a treating plant (CCA), sometimes wood would sit in storage for quite a while, in the not too dry state, the wood would be infected. During treatment a 27in/hg vacuum was pull for 15 minutes, the cylinder flooded with CCA solution, kept under 150psi pressure for 30 minutes and a final vacuum would be pulled for another
15 minutes, the critters would survive the chemicals, pressure and vacuum.When the bored out on the customers jobsite, it caused a lot of unhappiness all over.
Apparently, they only eat on the way in the semi-green wood in the untreated state and after they bored out, the wood would never be infected again.
P.S., My belated condolences for you and your family at the passing of your Mother, I hope all is as well as can be.
basilisk
Depending on how recently that piece of walnut was stashed, something as simple as getting it out of the building could solve your problem. I had a piece of ash that exhibited those nasty signs, removed it and kept an eye on the rest and nothing else was infected.
Deb
MJ wrote:
BTW, TimBor works, but I have had only moderate success with it. My wife had a dresser that had been her grandmother's, and therefore worth a lot to her. It got poweder post beetles in the plywood of the drawer bottoms. After about three treatments, over several weeks, the powder finally stopped showing up.
Bottom line is, don't think that one treatment with it will cure your problem.
Deb
MJ wrote:
TimBor is not only a preventative treatment, but also an immediate treatment, once an infestation is discovered. Lumber needs to, also, be treated prior to the adults laying their eggs, inside the wood. Your dresser already had the larvae inside the wood, when the problem was discovered. The larvae were digging their way out, when the problem was recognized. After 3 weeks, the larvae could have finished digging their way out, hence no more evidence of their presence.
PPB will return to the same cache of lumber (or nearby), the next season, to lay their eggs, again, and continue their life cycle. One has to treat the bugs, themselves, i.e., the life cycle of the insects, not necessarily the lumber, itself. You have to treat the adult stage (laying time period, spring time), as well as the larvae stage (hatching time period, autumn time), in order to keep the total problem under control.
BTW, similarly, if you have fruit trees (like plum or peach) that are susceptible to the bug infestation by plum curculio, you have to treat the trees before the adults infest the fruit, not after they have already laid their eggs inside the fruit.... The fruit would already be damaged, if you wait until after the infestation, to treat it.
With regard to the original poster, you can expect another infestation next year, unless you treat your lumber cache in late winter/early spring (apply the treatment for the duration of the egg laying season). The eggs that have already hatched will return, next year, to nearly the same location, and start the cycle again.
Sonny
I am surprised that you haven't gotten a lot of replies to this post. Maybe no one else has the problem? Maybe no one else wants to talk about it? Maybe no one else goes to the woods and brings them in, inadvertantly?
I sure would like to hear how your "Timbor" works. Several years ago, my wife convinced me to keep some white oak slabs that she thought were pretty. They were as wide as 20 inches, but had some decay. Mistake! Now I have to confront this issue from time to time. My wood storage building is a hundred feet from the shop. I never allow any suspect wood into the shop, so I am okay there. Anyway, I called the Terminex people back then, told them my problem, and they said: "sorry, but we can't help you." I, too asked about fumigation. They didn't think they could seal my 22 X 54 foot building well enough to do the job, no matter what process they used.
So, I'd still like to know if there are any newer solutions, too.
The only solution that I know of that will work is to paint the wood so the new bugs can't get out. From time to time I have considered using something like a sanding sealer, but that would be expensive for the 10,000 bd ft that I have out there.
Pete Stanaitis
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Pete,
I heard a couple of things to try. Timbor is one. The other, if you can do it, is to find a deep freeze processing container. Someone I know knew a guy who had one, kept his boards in there for a week and took care of it.
The best thing is prevention. Check your material and know where it's coming from. I bought these boards from a guy who was selling his stash and he just never really protected them. NEVER going to do that again!
I took out the offending board, a hunk of walnut, and kept it away from the ash I have. I haven't seen anything else yet, but I'll get the Timbor and spray each piece.
Terminex is really not a good place to begin. You might try calling your state's forestry dept. They might have some ideas or perhaps the local wood mills, if you have them or certainly the local hardwood stores,if you have them.
MJ
-------------------------------------- Why can't they "tent" your bldg?
Standard procedure around here to handle a termite infestation.
Pricey, yes, but also effective.
Lew
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