Bugs in My wood pile!!???

[Brian512]

Hi All,

I am new to this forum and have a serious concern regarding my 10 chords of wood that i split early last year and am currently using now in New York. I have this sandy / gritty textured pile of whatever you would call it on a lot of my wood about 5 pieces down from the top of the pile. I am sure that the wood did Not dry properly and I am upset about that. The wood is sitting on pallets the whole time and I fear that my whole wood pile is completely infested with some sort of wood destroying insects. I had plans to bring in a weeks worth of wood for my wife while i go to work during the week so she didn't need to go outside every couple of hours, but i fear that these bugs will "come alive" when they get warmed by the house. Is there anyone out there that knows what creates this pile of mess in it's path? Should I not burn this wood? Should I keep it out of the house? As you can tell, I am very paranoid about this and I do not want to do anything that could potentially infest my house with insects that will eat my house to the ground. Any and all advise is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much in advance...

 

[egclassic]

I am not sure of what type of insect does that, but I have them too. I would not worry about it though, just don't store the wood indoors.
I have brought wood in, put it in the stove and watched some sort of larve come out of the wood in the middle of winter.
The thing you have to remember is that wood is a source of food and/or living quarters for insects (think termites) so I would not store the wood close to the house or bring it in until it's ready to go into the stove. JMO!

 

[Paulywalnut]

Maybe powder post beetle. Probably come and gone or froze. I would not bring those pieces in.
I've had them in my stacks too. I can't imagine it effecting the whole stack. I sometimes brush off
pieces I'm concerned about. I can't recall ever seeing a beetle in the house.

 

[firefighterjake]

If it's really a fine sawdust it may be powder post beetles . . . I probably wouldn't bring all my wood inside, but leaving it inside for a day or so should be fine.

Then again, I don't really have any issues with bugs inside the house . . . see plenty of sign outside in the stacks . . . but none inside.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

I think that's what it is too, I had dust like that but never saw any beetles, I did split a piece of wood the other day and there was a maggot in it, it went into the insert. Just do not store any wood in your house if you don't want bugs in it...

 

[STIHLY DAN]

I store about a cord and a half indoors at a time, only bug I have is some small clear spiders. But I get those when I didn't heat with wood.

 

[red oak]

If it's really a fine sawdust it may be powder post beetles . . . I probably wouldn't bring all my wood inside, but leaving it inside for a day or so should be fine.

Then again, I don't really have any issues with bugs inside the house . . . see plenty of sign outside in the stacks . . . but none inside.

+1. I store a few day's worth inside and have never seen any bugs aside from the occasional spider - and I have many more of those in the house in the summer! Pieces that I have reason to believe have termites or carpenter ants stay outside until it's time for them to go right in the stove though.

 

[Applesister]

Most wood boring bugs hang out in the wood in larvae form. They pupate in the early spring and thats when they take flight. At this time of year they are crawling around in a worm state.
Generally wood borers like wet or damp wood. They vacate seasoned wood. Which is an excellent reason for seasoning your wood for a few years.
However some species of wood borers are attracked to dry wood. Like Powder post beetles. And Hickory borers.

 

[Brian512]

thanks everyone for the information. i will be keeping my wood outside until it is ready to burn