Bugs in wood

[Wilbursan]

I have some sweet gum that was left over from clearing my lot. I cut and stacked it back in January. It had been sitting on some pretty wet ground, not quite a mud pit but not too far off, since about June probably. It's been sitting on my concrete driveway since then, on top of bricks. I spit a couple of pieces to see how tough it would be and did notice what looked like little black holes in them. I did not see any termites or bugs in it so I paid it no mind. Now that spring is coming I've started splitting the rest and stacking it. I've noticed quite a few pieces have the same holes, and some have what look like tiny white eggs or something in them. I've still not seen any termites, but I did see some small black ants. mostly they were on the outside, but I found some ants after splitting one log and can't be sure if they were inside it or not. I've attached a couple of pictures so you can see the holes and the white dots inside (one "egg" looks like it has come out of it's hole). What has caused these holes? Again, I never saw any termites and the logs have been stacked on bricks above concrete for the last 2 months.

 

[FIshing_Fool]

Doesn't look like the termites I've seen before that's all I can add for you. No clue what the bug is or if it could be harmful to have near you house.

 

[Rebelduckman]

Good luck with the gum. I'll have to be pretty cold to fool with it again.

 

[Wilbursan]

The gum was free, but it's still looking like more trouble than it's worth. There's about a cord though so I hat to just get rid of it.

I've been reading online that sweet gum is rarely attacked by insects. Could this be something else?

 

[Jags]

The first pic is of powder post beetles (tiny, perfectly round). Not sure what the second is.

 

[Wilbursan]

Are powder post beetles something I need to keep away from my shop? I'm stacking the wood behind it. Not touching it, but only a few inches away. The shop is on a slab, all brick with siding in the non-brick areas.

 

[Jags]

Are powder post beetles something I need to keep away from my shop? I'm stacking the wood behind it. Not touching it, but only a few inches away. The shop is on a slab, all brick with siding in the non-brick areas.

I really don't know of the dangers possible with keeping that wood that close. I am in no way a pro on bugs.

 

[Fred Wright]

I've seen this in our old sweet gum stacks, presumed the holes were made by termites but never saw any. However I did notice a lot of little dust mounds all through there. Something was munching on it.

Some years ago I dropped a big gum, had to leave it lay a few weeks 'til the ground dried and I could get the little tractor in there. By the time I got in and bucked the log it was covered with little dust mounds. Whatever was working in it, they didn't waste no time.

 

[Wilbursan]

I think I'll be OK as long as I take some precautions. Don't bring it inside until it's going in the stove, don't even bring it on the back porch until it's below freezing and I've found something called Tim-Bore I can spray it with that may help. I've already cut all the wood and split and stacked about 1/4 - 1/3 of it. It would sure be a hassle to get rid of it now. I would spend more than the price of the spray getting rid of it (my truck is large enough that I have to pay commercial rates to go to the dump). Then of course I'd have to find more wood since this is all I have.

My only real concern is the proximity to the shop. But it's either there or the driveway.

 

[Jags]

I wouldn't get rid of it. I have burned plenty with those things in it.

 

[Applesister]

One bug is an ambrosia beetle larvae, they are attracted to fresh cut "distressed" trees. I've read that trees give off a dying tree bug pheromone that is attractive to bugs like ambrosia beetles which are very active in early spring.
They create the holes with the black fungal stains. They dont go after dried wood. Actually they dont eat wood.
But powder post beetles WILL infect dried wood. They leave the small 1/32" holes and the fine powder frass.
The bugs are everywhere, playing with wood just draws them to our attention.