Splitting a bunch of pine that has been down and cut into 16-24" long pieces, about 8-24" dia and sitting on the ground for about a year. Took one piece this weekend that had what looked like a woodpecker hole in it and when I split it I found lots of carpenter ants. The good news was it was very cold out so they were real lethargic and I just mushed them one by one. Kept splitting and found the big fat queen and mushed her miserable little existence also I imagine this must not be all that rare of an occurrence. Carpenter ants are pretty common around here (southern NH) but still I don't want to give them any invites. And then I totally fear doing this and finding termites one day. Do you guys keep a can of ant/termite killer with you when you split? Wondering if I "nuked" a split with such should I then relegate it to the outdoor burn pile (thinking burning those pesticides cannot be a good thing) . Anyway wondering how everyone else deals with this issue.
Thanks
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