L'il critters in the wood

[bbc557ci]

Hi everyone. Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving !!

Every day or so I bring in wood and set it on the hearth. Now and then critters will appear after the wood warms up to room temp. Not always but some times I'll see a few flies, spiders, even had a few Wasps wake up from their "winter nap". I brought some wood in tonight and decided to check little holes, crevises, what have you in the splits. I saw a "suspect" space/hole in one of the splits, and shot a little Windex in the hole to see if I could flush any would be house guests out. About 10 seconds later 4 flies came straggling out of the hole.

Windex doesn't kill the critters off very quickly. And I'd like to shoot something into suspect lodging areas when I bring the splits inside. I was thinking maybe a few squirts of a solution of something like Amonia and water, or something along those lines might kill off the bugs that are hiding out. I'd like to steer clear of bug spray if possible.

Any ideas ??

Thanks!!

 

[BrotherBart]

Put a little water in some dish washing liquid.

 

[bbc557ci]

So, dish washig detergent will kill the little stinkers. I'll give that a try.

Thanks BB.

 

[Elfin]

Yeah, we had a wasp in the house the other day... don't ya love it? ugh.

One other thing you could try is to vacuum the little crevices... suck the critters out of their hiding holes.

 

[jtb51b]

I can deal with flies and even wasps.. I don't get those, I get spiders and big ones.. Is there anything I can spray on the whole dang pile thats still safe to burn??? BTW, speaking of critters I spent all day putting baby squirrels back onto the big maple by the house.. Picked up 4 of them today, I imagine tomorrow will me more of the same.. I'll be glad when they learn how to stay IN the trees and not fall out..

Jason

 

[colsmith]

To be more specific, two Tablespoons of dish soap (the hand washing kind) mixed into a quart of water should make a deadly bug spray. For better safe than sorry just add another spoonful.

For the person who wants to get rid of the spiders, why is that? Personally spiders frighten me, but I let them live because I figure they catch flies, mosquitoes, fruit flies and so on in their webs. In AL though they might be poisonous, ours here are harmless, just creepy as all spiders are. ;-)

 

[LeonMSPT]

Most insect inspire through their exoskeletons, as I recall... when I was with the fire department, we had some training in how to handle swarming bees in an emergency.

3-5 percent foam, sprayed onto them and other insects, kills them within a couple minutes and disables them fairly immediately. It's just soap, so the dishwashing detergent should work.

 

[webby3650]

Why not just use bug killer? I think that as long as you don't introduce it to open flame, once it dries you would be fine. Although some bug killers seem so weak that a home-made sauce might do the trick just fine!

 

[LeonMSPT]

Just don't spray it on your entire woodpile... it will continue to retard combustion even after it dries. Kind of contrary to the purpose...

 

[Cearbhaill]

Cats

 

[billb3]

citrus cleaner works on ome bugs.
as does the bottom of my shoe.

 

[downeast]

Oh my, bugs in firewood. Who would have thought it.
Time for another tool to solve this problem: first use the new M² to check for the correct water content ( critters will not go where there is no H20 ). Then use the IR thingie to check the temp ( below 0 C they will not live ). After that take the 55 ton splitter and split the hell out of the offending splits to destroy the nests and burrows. Finally use the 90 cc, 36" Terminator chainsaw to cut those offenders out of the wood before it is burned.

Stihl got wood ? JMNSHO

 

[bbc557ci]

Well now.... guess I'm not the only one with a few bugs crawling out'a the wood work LOL

I was talking to a wood burning bud of mine last night. He told me that he keeps an aerosol can of brake cleaner handy. Said he sticks the little tube in a suspect hole in a split, then gives it about a 1 second shot. Brake cleaner being a pretty strong solvent, I expect it would kill about anything. But maybe not the best stuff to have too close to the stove :ahhh:

Sounds like a combination of dish soap & water will do the job.

Thanks everyone for the replies!!

 

[bbc557ci]

Oh my, bugs in firewood. Who would have thought it.
Time for another tool to solve this problem: first use the new M² to check for the correct water content ( critters will not go where there is no H20 ). Then use the IR thingie to check the temp ( below 0 C they will not live ). After that take the 55 ton splitter and split the hell out of the offending splits to destroy the nests and burrows. Finally use the 90 cc, 36" Terminator chainsaw to cut those offenders out of the wood before it is burned.

Stihl got wood ? JMNSHO

Lots of flies, spiders, wasps, and what have you, here in central NY looking for a place to hibernate for the winter. They seem to like relatively dry places to go to, when they seek out their winter retreat.

Now I don't mind a few bugs in the wood when it lands in the stove. They seem to add a nice little snap, crackle & pop to the burn But thanks for the ideas

 

[crazy_dan]

Well now.... guess I'm not the only one with a few bugs crawling out'a the wood work LOL

I was talking to a wood burning bud of mine last night. He told me that he keeps an aerosol can of brake cleaner handy. Said he sticks the little tube in a suspect hole in a split, then gives it about a 1 second shot. Brake cleaner being a pretty strong solvent, I expect it would kill about anything. But maybe not the best stuff to have too close to the stove :ahhh:

Sounds like a combination of dish soap & water will do the job.

Thanks everyone for the replies!!

Brake cleaner used to be able to take paint off of cars (it still might haven't had the desire to test it lately), not sure I would want it in my stove. who knows what it would eat up in there

 

[Jags]

I realize that having a nice stack close to the stove is handy, but I personally don't bring any firewood into the house (and out of the cold) if it won't be burned within a few hours. I just never give those little critters a chance to wake up in the first place.

 

[spiffy1]

Sounds like it's hard to beat the dish soap, but a couple more options:

Old garden recipe (which, not trying in years I'll likely botch, so use your own judgement): most bugs are intolerant to nicotine [of course, with many insecitcides cousins of the substance, that may be less effective): a tin of tobacco in a quart [perhaps a gallon?] of water and strain the solids off with a coffee filter or whatever.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you spray your [empty] wood box with Tempo (readily available at farm stores or sites like DoMyOwnPestControl; first result I Googled) once a month or so [pretty long residual on the stuff], you should be able to keep the critters from getting loose in your house without applying anything to the wood. Spraying the wood shed before filling it should keep them from getting in or out of there too. Of course, something could still wake up between your wood box and the stove while you're loading, but you don't want to miss all the fun!

 

[GaryS]

I guess I'm just too lazy to check all my wood for tiny holes. My biggest problem is wood roaches. These aren't the house variety but really like wood piles. Still, I hate to get them in the house so I do check the wood before bringing it in. I have a large wood box that I sometimes fog with bug spray after I fill it with wood.

 

[madrone]

I realize that having a nice stack close to the stove is handy, but I personally don't bring any firewood into the house (and out of the cold) if it won't be burned within a few hours. I just never give those little critters a chance to wake up in the first place.

There's yer answer. I only keep a day's worth inside. I keep some wood to the porch for inclement weather, but go to the pile if it's not bad out. Exercise.

 

[Risser09]

I am getting the occasional wasp. My dad delivered a truck load of cherry from Sullivan County, and a chipmunk hopped out of the truck bed. Must have been a scary 3.5 hour ride for the little guy.

 

[trailblaze]

i take my wood from my porch right to the stove... sooo the critters get cooked!

 

[LeonMSPT]

Last time I tried to put a cat in the woodstove, I had to smack him with the poker, scratched me up something fierce. And all that screeching and yowling got the neighbors up.