Holes in firewood
- Thread starter Polish hammer
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bear1998
ArboristSite Operative
Pine beetles???
Carpenter aunts
Probably these. We get them in EVERY pine log i bring home from this tree service that lets you take wood for free. Same exact “saw dust” you Pictured. If your vewy vewy quiet.... you can actually hear them chomping away at the wood.
I stopped going there. I don’t want that around my house. Happened to me twice out of the two times I brought home pine... I burned all of it in a bonfire both times to kill the ants
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TimberWolf530
ArboristSite Guru
They will only eat wet wood. If you put your wood under cover, they will go away. To kill them, use Gourmet liquid ant bait. It's a delayed poison, so they will take it back to the colony and the queen, and it kills all of them. Then you just have to worry about spiders & chipmonks.
Good to know. Thank you for sharing.
Liquid ant poison on wood im going to burn in my house....
JMO but im not really into that.
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In regards to burning things that get into the air
I’ve already felt the effects of how fast burning something you’re allergic to will get to you. Last weekend my wife was burning some scrap wood that was already in our fire pit. The fire pit was full of huge weeds that have not been cut for months they were darn near trees.
Generally have allergies to certain weeds more so in the fall.
I was standing about 40 yards away stacking Splitwood when she let the fire. Within five minutes I had started sneezing coughing and within 10 minutes I had broken out in hives.
I have no clue what was in there but whatever weed that was .....burning it got to me extremely fast.
I’m going to pay more attention now to what is in or on my wood when i burn it.
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I’ve already felt the effects of how fast burning something you’re allergic to will get to you. Last weekend my wife was burning some scrap wood that was already in our fire pit. The fire pit was full of huge weeds that have not been cut for months they were darn near trees.
Generally have allergies to certain weeds more so in the fall.
I was standing about 40 yards away stacking Splitwood when she let the fire. Within five minutes I had started sneezing coughing and within 10 minutes I had broken out in hives.
I have no clue what was in there but whatever weed that was .....burning it got to me extremely fast.
I’m going to pay more attention now to what is in or on my wood when i burn it.
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TimberWolf530
ArboristSite Guru
You put the poison in little containers around the area that has the ants. You don't pour it directly on the wood. Sorry, I should have explained that better. I build fishing poles, so I use the little plastic cups that I use to mix rod finish. I cut them down to about 1/4" high. They look like the little plastic cups that come with Nyquil. Any small container that holds liquid will work. The stuff works well, but keeping your split wood dry is the best preventative.
Keeping dry is a great point because I have some pine in one of my cord stacks and it is very dry and has no ants.
Very good info.
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Polish hammer
ArboristSite Operative
We have had over 8 inches of rain in less then a week when I starter noticing them hence why the wood looks so wet and is have to get some poison
When I split Norway or white pine that was in contact with the ground, there are always big grubs under the bark. When I say big I mean like the size of a woman's finger and they make almost a squeak/honk noise when you liberate them from their den.
Same as svk up here , if I drop pine and leave the bark on beetle grub will chew in the summer , split and dry have no grub .
James Miller
Addicted to ArboristSite
Carpenter ants will tunnel through the whole round or log. Most grubs I've seen don't leave big open spots like this. Glad I split this when it was cold and they were barely moving the birds maid short work of them.
I agree with James.
Those aren't carpenter ant holes. They leave long tunnels and don't 'eat' the wood but gnaw out passages of rotten or dying trees to make large nests.
Looks more like a beetle hole. I'd bet on it.
What I normally do with this chewed firewood is stack it up and let it dry a long time. Remove any loose bark and then when time comes to use it, I throw it right in an ongoing fire in the woodstove.
No need for poisons or treatment of any kind.
If the odd split has been infested with carpenter ants, then I throw that piece into the woods and let them do their thing that they do for the good of nature and not spread to nearby wood on my property.
Wood boring ants only chew wet wood and will infest dead or dying trees and decaying, wet logs.
Those aren't carpenter ant holes. They leave long tunnels and don't 'eat' the wood but gnaw out passages of rotten or dying trees to make large nests.
Looks more like a beetle hole. I'd bet on it.
What I normally do with this chewed firewood is stack it up and let it dry a long time. Remove any loose bark and then when time comes to use it, I throw it right in an ongoing fire in the woodstove.
No need for poisons or treatment of any kind.
If the odd split has been infested with carpenter ants, then I throw that piece into the woods and let them do their thing that they do for the good of nature and not spread to nearby wood on my property.
Wood boring ants only chew wet wood and will infest dead or dying trees and decaying, wet logs.
I think some people even eat them-covered in chocolate!
Polish hammer
ArboristSite Operative
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