Huge mess in wood pile - what do you think?

[Battenkiller]

The sauna room is all cedar - these type of pests don't like cedar, right?

Last week I was pulling some second hand hemlock boards off of my prized northern white cedar stash when I discovered a huge ant nest. They had made a total mess of the hemlock, but had eaten some of the cedar as well, enough to trash several boards. I paid dearly for this stuff because it was 100% clear and rift-sawn. Needless to say, I was a little pissed.

 

[CJRages]

Those powder posters are something else.... didn't know anything about them before this year... I began noticing piles of dust - maybe 1/4 cup of "sawdust" from each hole - in late spring/early summer this year. At first I thought that it was termites (lol we have plenty of them here too). The giveaway on these guys was the maniacal crunching noise coming from the wood-stacks. Yes, you can literally hear these guys eating up your hard earned BTUs. They appear to enjoy the sapwood far more than the heartwood. In my case their favorite cuisine was the mulberry without a doubt.

 

[velvetfoot]

CJ, those pest you have sound bigger than powder post beetles. PPS make real small holes (deep, but small).

 

[bambam]

I also encountered this problem with the Hickory I had, but that seems to be the only type of wood that I had that had a problem. I don't burn my Hickory until it is really cold so I don't worry about the wood being inside the house long enough for a problem.