bugs in the wood... powder post beetles?

[maverick06]

Alright, I have bugs in the wood and its really annoying. I have about 5 cords of wood in a woodshed, sitting on 2x4's over dirt, with 3 of the 4 sides covered. 4 of the 5 cords have been there 2 years. It is 80% ash and 20% black walnut.

Every single piece has holes and "dust" on them (none were there when I stacked the wood). I haven't seen any of the bugs, but its gotta be a lot of them. I have to brush off every single piece before bringing them in. Some have more dust from the bugs, some has less, the ones with "more" could be nearly a fistful volume of it. The holes are nearly 1/8" diameter.

Any thoughts on this? I will definitely treat the ground in the spring once I burn up the wood. not sure if that will prevent this in the future.

Mainly I do not want whatever these things are eating up the house, being that it has all hardwood floors I am concerned about the dust stuff falling on the floors. (any eggs in that dust?
).

Making the wood clean enough to bring inside without making a mess has also added a lot of time to the whole process.


The holes and some of the dust:

Close up of the dust, its the sandy/black stuff.....

 

[TedyOH]

Well that sucks.....I have only had problems with hickory....and it's always just white powdery sawdust, never seen black sandy stuff like you have.....I don't have a woodshed and I do not top cover either.....maybe a leaf blower will help you clean the dust off the wood, they make some decent battery powered ones for 100 bucks or so....I have a green one I bought online (cant think of the name right now) works pretty well for light duty work....

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[St. Coemgen]

Looks like wood borers. Species unknown. Probably already in the wood when the tree was harvested. I have seen this as well, from time to time. I have even seen the larval, on occasion, when I split the wood. I typically ignore it myself. Those that did not hatch in the drying stacks meet their afterlife when the wood goes into the firebox.

If you have a lot of this, then I can only suspect that your wood came from a very infected source. Which is bad. Ask your wood delivery person next time you order wood about that. If this is wood from your own property, then you have a real problem that you need do deal with ASAP.

 

[Dobish]

i have had some of this in some pine that i picked up from someone. It made a mess! i blew most of it off, and after it was split, I haven't seen any new action.

 

[maverick06]

i can sometimes specify the wood type from my wood guy, oak and the real hardwoods are more money. Any thoughts on what is more resistant to this sort of stuff? The blackwalnut and ash all seem to have it.

 

[FaithfulWoodsman]

I get quite a bit of this. Some is more powdery than others and some has the black flecks, which I believe are droppings. I have seen powder post beetles in some of them, so I know that they can make messes that look like that. Prob other things too. I have all oak floors and joists and never had any issues with seeing them in the house. Knock them off and maybe burn the worst ones first, but I don't' really worry about it too much. I have had ants though, so I keep traps behind the wood rack in the basement, but have never seen any. Most bugs won't mess with wood in houses unless it has some moisture issues. I know from trying to fasten new lumber to my old oak, no bug is chewing through that stuff.

 

[FaithfulWoodsman]

i can sometimes specify the wood type from my wood guy, oak and the real hardwoods are more money. Any thoughts on what is more resistant to this sort of stuff? The blackwalnut and ash all seem to have it.

Yep I have a lot of those and they love ash. I have cut cherry with ants in them, but I don't think I see any of those dust piles in my cherry stacks. Also none in the oak or beech. Heard hickory can be full of them.

 

[sportbikerider78]

I have the same thing. This is why I do not store wood in my basement for any period of time. I have hardwood floors as well.

The strange part is that if the wood goes into my makesift wood shed, I get the powder post beetles. If I leave it outside to dry, uncovered, no beetles.

 

[Chimney Smoke]

I see lots of that on my white pine. In the summer I can actually hear the grubs chewing in a pile of newly split wood. Once the wood dries out they go away. I just burn everything - the wood filings is extra fire starter material.

 

[woodsHAM]

I have them as well. Mainly in my hickory but see my oak occasionally with bore holes in it.

 

[Woody Stover]

Black Locust is about the most bug-free wood, but sometimes it will have borers as well. It's a pain, but I usually clean up the Oak, Hickory, Cherry as I bring it from the stack up to the on-deck stack near the door. I'm out there with a hatchet and wisk broom. I don't see much on the White Ash, other than loose bark. But I'm not really worried about the bugs doing any damage to my wood floors, etc.

some has the black flecks, which I believe are droppings.

Yeah, just in case you weren't grossed out enough already....that black stuff is bug poop.

 

[BenTN]

got the same thing in my shed wood, white oak and hickory. i believe its a moisture thing as my dead standing ash and red oak is untouched, but everything i put up green they attack. i just knock them together as i load the wheelbarrow or wagon and stack on the porch. i dont bring wood in the house until i load it in the fireplace.

 

[xman23]

I've had them in my stacks for 15 years. I have mostly oak, which I don't see them in. But all the other wood, I think maple, there in every piece.

 

[Supersurvey]

I have they also, often wondered if they appear at a certain moisture content.

 

[maverick06]

So lots of us have them, not much we can do, but no one is saying it has been a problem, thats good. I was having nightmares of having to tent the house and fumigate... well not really nightmares, but that would sure such. good thing it doesnt seem to be an issue. I do have some pieces of a redish colored wood that dont seem to have any holes, might have to ask for an ID on it, i sure cant tell.