My wood has been covered since May?

[BigV]

Last year I had an infestation problem with my firewood. Some type of beetle(s) burrowed 20 to 30 holes in just about every piece of wood I had. The holes were almost completely through each piece and stopped almost at the bark. When I knocked the bark off I could see white worms inside each hole. In the spring, these worms grew into flying insects about the size of wasps. I would guess that I lost over 1/3 of my firewood due to these burrowing pests. This year I covered my entire wood pile from top to bottom hopefully preventing these pests from getting to my wood.
The question is, will my wood be seasoned well enough to burn this winter?
It has all been stacked on oak pallets so it’s off the ground. Mostly oak that was cut into rounds early 2007 and split in March and April of this year.

 

[pinewoodburner]

Do you have a moisture meter to check one out?
If you don't and that is all your wood, you will have to burn it anyway. Good luck with it. Did covering it prevent the bugs this time? Jeff

 

[Girl]

The wood may have already been infested to begin with too.
Depending on the bug, it would not infest your home & still can burn, just don't bring it in the house to defrost the dormant larvae.

As you know oak can take a while to season.
I would guess to say they could be okay, but you really need to see what is happening on the inside.

I have some oak from 07, large pieces (left uncovered during this spring & summer and are still uncovered under a protected area), I split them all, still a tad damp & a bit stinky inside, confident they will be good to go when I really need to burn since they are split smaller.
I had a bad year with not so seasoned oak, I will not do that ever again, it made a heavy layer in my chimney, the first and only time that happened & I am guessing it was the oak as I never had a bad build up issue before.

 

[billb3]

I don't understand why you lost 1/3 of your wood, nor why a tarp would impede a bug infestation.
( i may have missed something in the post, I often do)

You really had 40 cubic feet of sawdust per cord ?

As stated above, the only scientific method to know for sure would be with a moisture meter.
Or burn some and look for boiling water and smoke and, hopefully, the lack thereof.

 

[BrotherBart]

What you probably had was wood bees. They drill holes that are about a half inch in diameter and can be as much as four feet long. The female spends her time drilling, laying eggs and storing food for the eggs after they hatch. The male spends his time flying around making racket protecting the nest. The male's problem is that he doesn't have a stinger. Only the female has one.

The males appear really surprised when I smack them into the woods with my cap.

 

[WOODBUTCHER]

I would open that pile to some fresh air.........oak is "Fool Me Once Wood" .....every one here has been fooled by oak once.
Medium/Large size oak splits take a good year to dry out reguardless of how long its been laying around in trunk/round form. White Oak thats green can take well over a year to season.
Split a piece open and check for uniform color, if there is a dark center or streaks and it smells......it needs more time ( your wood has only been split for 5 months remember ). You can always get by and mix other species with the oak when loading the fire (dry stuff on bottom damp stuff on top). Your wood should be burnable, but not optimal......I've burt non-optimal wood before (splitting damp stuff into smaller splits helps ) ....so dont worry too much.


WoodButcher