Bugs like Maple as much as Hickory ( or more )

[del][/del]I dont recall seeing them under the bark or sapwood of my red/black oaks,white/bur oak very often,but those various powderpost beetles sure love hickory.If I cut some green in late fall or winter then bring it indoors,soon afterwards the piles of dust start appearing,even more so in March-April.Hickory tends to rot fairly quickly on the ground,so when I'm cutting any dead,if the tree(s) are still standing,I leave them until I get the time to fell 'em & buck 'em in one session.About 3-4yrs max is the best I've seen hickory to remain sound when on forest floor.Less if you have a very wet spring or summer obviously.

I dont recall seeing them under the bark or sapwood of my red/black oaks,white/bur oak very often,but those various powderpost beetles sure love hickory.If I cut some green in late fall or winter then bring it indoors,soon afterwards the piles of dust start appearing,even more so in March-April.Hickory tends to rot fairly quickly on the ground,so when I'm cutting any dead,if the tree(s) are still standing,I leave them until I get the time to fell 'em & buck 'em in one session.About 3-4yrs max is the best I've seen hickory to remain sound when on forest floor.Less if you have a very wet spring or summer obviously.

I'm also from West Kentucky, and have had problems with the painted hickory borer with my hickory, but not my maple. I leave the red maple alone but do cut quite a bit of sugar maple. I cut maple in the early fall after the first frost and by the time the warm weather is back again in the spring the maple has dried enough so as to not be so attractive to the bugs. I also dry my wood under roof and off the ground, which may also make a difference. Z

Elm is another wood the PPB love. Lots of dust from that stuff.

This is the first year that I've had to deal with bugs like this. I've burned a bunch of Swamp Maple and Red Oak and never had a problem. This is my first year with White Oak and they have drilled holes through all of the bark. I waited until last week before bringing any quantity in the house and I have found two worm thingees crawling away from my pile next to the stove. I usually leave a weeks worth next to the stove to help dry it out and for convenience. I've been told that these bugs are no threat to a house but it still gets me worried.

westkywood said:

I'm burning a lot of Red and Silver Maple this year. I love burning it when I'm at home because it doesn't leave the large amount of coals like my hardwoods do. It's all been seasoned for a year. My Hickory gets those bugs in it that makes a fine dust. Just about every piece of Maple is full of that dust behind the bark. What a mess. Because of the bugs, a lot of the bark is loose so some of it can be pulled off before bringing it in the house, but then some can't be. What a mess. This makes a bigger mess than ashes ever could.

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Maple is a great burning wood (hardwood). It seasons well and much faster than Oak. I always remove the loose bark and dust off the splits with a brush before bringing them in the house and I have no problems with it making a mess. I also like that it doesn't produce many sparks. Overall, for these reasons, I would take Maple over most other species.