[SlapHappy Drums]

I've got a bunch of wood that I picked up awhile back and it seems that the wood came with a few hungry worms too.

I've figured out how to work with the damaged wood, but now I'm worried about spreading the infestation when I sell my work.
Until yesterday I figured the worms were all long dead, but not so.

Will shellac seal the wood and poison/suffocate them?

Bug Bomb?

Any help?

I really don't want to burn it, but I'm not about to sell my work if it's going to spread bugs.

What's a woodworker to do?

 

[BigJoe16]

I haven't had a bug problem yet but I know they sell products you apply to the wood to kill them.

If you don't want to spend the money, you could try laying the boards in the driveway and cover with a dark colored tarp on a hot sunny day.

 

[Steve Neul]

Without knowing what the critter were it would be hard to say what to do. If it's tiny little holes and the bugs spit out little piles of dust it might be powder post beetles. For those I would use a termite spray. Heating the wood under a dark tarp like Bigjoe said sounds like a good idea however I believe I would put some insecticide on the ground under it to maybe stop them from leaving the wood and heading for your house.

 

[yank]

worms, great fish bait.

 

[SlapHappy Drums]

The one I found wasn't coming out of his hole, he curled up into a lil' ball and tapping the wood didn't coax him out so I sent a screw in after him.

It seemed whiteish and grub/worm like, no clue what it wanted to become when it grew up.

Is letting off an all purpose bug bomb in my shop just a fantasy fix?

 

[vursenbach]

worms, great fish bait.

Yes

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[Lilty]

Sprinkle some Borax on your wood that should get rid of them.

 

[Gene Howe]

Sounds like the worms/grubs that infest my mesquite. Those SEEM to only like Mesquite. They become big ugly flying bugs. I find them in all stages of development. Even in the same board.
The suggestion to cover with a tarp and leave in the sun is a good one. That's how about 1/2 of my mesquite supply is stored. The stuff under the tarp will have dead and dried grubs/bugs in it. No live ones, though.

 

[vursenbach]

What kind of wood is it? Many different types of Beatles only like specific type of wood. Their larva could make holes like worms. We have the pine Beatle in this area and its killing a lot of trees. Once the wood is dead and then the larva mature into an adult Beatle they leave the dead wood and look for another home.

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[Steve Neul]

I think I know the one you have. I believe it's called a wood-borer. For that one I don't think insecticides would work as they stay deep in the wood. I think heat is the only answer.

 

[SlapHappy Drums]

The bugs are all over my Cherry and some have gotten into my Walnut as well, but the Cherry is just about Swiss Cheese.

 

[Brian T.]

Wood worm metabolism can't cope with the changes of rapid 24hr freeze-thaw cycles. From the warmth of sunshine, into your -20F freezer for 24 then out again. Repeat 5X.

A slow slide down into winter is easy for them to manage, year after year. BC has more than 18,000,000 hectares of Mountain Pine Beelte killed trees as proof of concept.

 

[Bill White 2]

Buy some plain old 20 Mule Team borax. Make a solution and spray it on the wood with a garden sprayer.
Kills 'em DEAD!
Bill

 

[vursenbach]

Wood worm metabolism can't cope with the changes of rapid 24hr freeze-thaw cycles. From the warmth of sunshine, into your -20F freezer for 24 then out again. Repeat 5X.

A slow slide down into winter is easy for them to manage, year after year. BC has more than 18,000,000 hectares of Mountain Pine Beelte killed trees as proof of concept.

The pine Beatle will only attack living pine trees; however, their larva or eggs can live in dead wood for quite a while. When the larva turns into a Beatle, it will leave dead wood looking for another living tree. A pine Beatle can only independently transport itself around 25 yards. They need people or animals to go farther.

There was an individual that went to the mountains and brought home firewood for his home to Evanston, Wyoming. There were pine Beatles in the dead lumber and within a year, a tree in the city ballpark was infested with the pine Beatle. The city cut the tree down at first sight of the Beatle as well as other trees within 25 yards of it. The wood was burnt. It worked and the rest of the city was saved because they caught it in time. The homes and other structures were never threatened because the adult Beatles don't like dead wood.

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