# Bugs in my lumber



## aggiewoodbutchr (May 10, 2006)

I discovered some sort of wood boring worm in my pecan I stack the other day.:angry2: I know that kiln drying @ 140+ degrees is the best way to kill these buggers but I wasn't planning on that expense. Has anyone used a poor mans cure for this problem?


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## aggiewoodbutchr (May 10, 2006)

*Btw*

The worms are cream colored with a large head, slender body and about 1" long. They leave an oval shaped hole. I'll get pictures as soon as I can take them.

I really don't care much about the holes. I just don't want them infecting other stuff.


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## aggiewoodbutchr (May 10, 2006)

I'm 99% sure this is the one.


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## Newfie (May 10, 2006)

I've seen the same kind of borers in eastern white pine logs, but once lumber was sawn out they jumped ship. The 6/4 stock I was milling didn't seem cozy enough I guess. I've never had a stack infested after the saw. Do they make an annoying croaking noise?


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## aggiewoodbutchr (May 10, 2006)

You can clearly hear them munching on the wood. It's kind of a snaping sound.


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## woodshop (May 10, 2006)

I'm not sure exactly what these guys are called, but I get them occasionally in wood I am milling, or in a log, usually right under the bark, but I've seen them boring deep into the heartwood in some species too. They tore through a pile of ash I had drying few years ago. I first noticed them when I saw little piles of powder between the stickered boards. Other than kiln drying, I'm not sure either how to get rid of them once they are in your wood, maybe Gene Wengert would know. In my case, not knowing what to do back then, I let them run thier course, and just cut out the infected parts of the boards later on after they had dried. They ended up destroying about 20% of my stack.


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## Big Woody (May 12, 2006)

> I'm not sure exactly what these guys are called, but I get them occasionally in my wood



I believe that would be a "Sperm Worm" if it is in your wood.


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## TomW (May 14, 2006)

*wood borers*

I understand there are different kinds of borers and may be different in different parts of the country. When our house was built some years ago some infested air dried pine was used for bracing. About 6 years later we started having the holes appear in trim work where they emerged to come out and lay eggs and start the cycle again. The exterminators had us leave for a few days, tent the house, and fumigate it with Vicane gas. They said that here (Virginia) that they are a real problem in unpainted or untreated log houses. (The eggs cannot enter painted or sealed wood.) There are some other types of borers that just get under bark that are not a problem.


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## coveredinsap (May 14, 2006)

I ran into these in 2000 when I redid a log cabin made of unfinished/stained pine that was built in the 1980's. The worms looked similar to the one in the photo, sort of like a grub. Some were quite big, about 1.5". Evidently the fly lays eggs in the wood, the eggs hatch into the worms, which stay in the wood for a year or two, then bore their way out and turn into a fly. They will bore thru anything to get out, including sheetrock.

I forget the name of them or what was done about them, if anything. The owner was supposed to take care of it...."not my department" was the phrase used. (I had him take a sample down to the county ag department.)


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## bookerdog (May 14, 2006)

*seven*

You could spray your boards with the insectiside called Seven.


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## woodshop (May 15, 2006)

I read in a farmers almanac once, that plain Clorox put on the boards full strength would keep borers out. The way it was explained, was that the beetle lands on the wood, tastes the hypoclorate residue left by the clorox, and then either doesn't lay eggs, or if she does, the hypoclorate will be toxic to the young ones when they try and bore into the wood. I have no idea if this is an old wives tale or true. I asked Gene Wengert about it on another forum, and he replied that he "doubted it would work" but never said why not. Gene is a smart guy, and I value his opinion. But Clorox is cheap, goes on rough milled boards easy with a paint roller. One pass through the planer cleans up the slight stain the Clorox makes on the surface of the wood when you first put it on. I'd like more input or information on it one way or another if anybody has any thoughts.


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## scottr (May 16, 2006)

*Bugs*

aggie , you can look up the bugs at http://www.bugwood.org/


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## aggiewoodbutchr (May 16, 2006)

scottr said:


> aggie , you can look up the bugs at http://www.bugwood.org/



Thanks! The flathead borer is defenitely the culprit. I saw those beetles in the garage a couple of months ago but I didn't know they were evildoers. 

Allegedly, the bugs will leave the wood once it dries past their comfort level but I don't want to take the chance. This is war! 

I collected the necessary material to build a kiln and I'm going to cook their butts. Not to mention I will forever have a kiln at my disposal


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## Treeman67 (May 16, 2006)

every time i see borer in green wood, i chipped or burn it to stopped that cycles of infestation, i wouldn't wanted take chance to pay extra expenses to make perservated wood , if i can be sure it that 110%guarantee work, i guess i not risk taker. speaking about log cabin i never though about borer would lay eggs on season dried wood, i always see on green trees and it started to die from top spread down to bottom. Again i had second though not get log cabin home..lol

Treeman67


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## Newfie (May 16, 2006)

aggiewoodbutchr said:


> I collected the necessary material to build a kiln and I'm going to cook their butts. Not to mention I will forever have a kiln at my disposal


 Cool, a kiln would be nice to have.


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## Adkpk (May 16, 2006)

In the landscape business we painstakingly go after wood borers with knives. They get into jap maples alot. And people don't want to lose their jap maples. So you find the hole they go in and cut the bark back until you see them. Then you pinch their heads off. If they go down into the wood you take a peice or ridged thin wire and slide that in till you here a crunch.
Cutting off damaged wood is a good idea. Being sure to 
burn it (or give to someone you don't like much). 
Might be something to do while your waiting to bring in the chemical solution. 
Be better than sitting up at nigth with all that crunching noise going on.


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## aggiewoodbutchr (May 16, 2006)

Newfie said:


> Cool, a kiln would be nice to have.



I thought so too.

I'm still in the R&D phase. I was able to salvage enough structural sheet metal and red iron from a project I just finished to make a few drying sheds and a kiln. Now if I can salvage some spare time from somewhere I'll be set.


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## woodshop (May 16, 2006)

Newfie said:


> Cool, a kiln would be nice to have.


wish I had room for a kiln, I would build one in a heartbeat. The wife wouldn't take too kindly to me putting one in the middle of our backyard, no matter how many cherry corner hutches I promised her.


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## aggiewoodbutchr (May 17, 2006)

I kicking around the idea of making it mobile. The red iron I have is plenty heavy to make a box trailer style kiln that opens from the side. I'm thinking it won't be too hard to pull off. I'm sure there's someone here that has some kiln building experience. Hmmm...


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## woodchux (May 17, 2006)

I've heard that an old school bus works good for a kiln. 
Maybe a van.


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## ranchjn (Jul 5, 2006)

aggiewoodbutchr said:


> I'm 99% sure this is the one.



thats exactly what i saw yesterday while splitting wood. I was chopping up a fairly large old madrone that had fallen a while back. It was easy to split, but occasionally i would come across those guys deap in the heartwood. I used a little stick to pry them out of their homes whenever I could. I didnt think much of it and threw the chopped madrone with the rest of my wood. Was this a mistake? I dont want to use any chemicals on my woodpile. I guess I can remove the pieces that I just added, but i dont think those borers will cause any harm to the rest of the pile. They didnt seem to be making very fast progress boring through the madrone. here is another pic of one (sorry kinda gross and big)







here is what Cornell has to say about them-
http://www.entomology.cornell.edu/Extension/DiagnosticLab/IDLFS/FirewoodInsects/FirewoodInsects.html


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Jul 5, 2006)

That looks different than the ones I had. My amigos are flathead wood borers. I found in my research that they will most likely leave on their own when the wood gets below a certian MC.


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