Silverfish in woodpile, eek!

[breeze530]

We store our main wood properly stacked on the property. We also have a small metal wood holder (don't know the name) that's on our porch, sitting against the house. The bottom shelf is about a foot off the porch. Then we bring in small boxes of what we will need for a day or two.
I went out today to get some wood to bring in from the porch (it's oak) & 2 nasty silverfish jumped off the first 3 or 4 pieces I was going to bring in. I was able to kill them, but I know there are probably certainly more out there.

I lived in another place where I had a silverfish invasion in the house that was terrible to get rid of. I HATE those things! The way I finally got rid of them that time was by using boric acid. What I want to know is if I spinkle the boric acid on the wood while it's outside, will it cause problems when it's burned? Will it create a poisonous gas or something? We already use it around the wood piles & the inside boxes.

Thanks. I'm new to the whole wood thing. My daughter & I live together & we also have propane heaters. But after a $500 bill for 2 months, we shut them off. Now we're only using our Fisher wood stove & I use a radiator type heater in my bdrm. So please excuse my ignorance. I'm thrilled to find this forum!

 

[myzamboni]

The only wood that comes in my house is the wood that is going immediately into the stove. I keep a small rack in the garage and bang my splits together before I bring them into the garage. No silverfish problem here.

BTW, wherabouts in the mountains?

 

[breeze530]

Thanks! I guess that's the easiest way. I'm in Lompico. Know where that is?

 

[iskiatomic]

I assume this silverfish is a west coast thing? Never have heard of such a thing, please elaborate.


KC

 

[Heem]

I assume this silverfish is a west coast thing? Never have heard of such a thing, please elaborate.


KC

We have them here too iskiatomic. Just bugs.

 

[Shipper50]

Lepisma saccharina (commonly called the fishmoth, urban silverfish, or just silverfish) is a small, wingless insect typically measuring from a half to one inch (12–25 mm). Its common name derives from the animal's silvery blue colour, combined with the fish-like appearance of its movements, while the scientific name indicates the silverfish's diet of carbohydrates such as sugar or starches. It belongs to the basal insect order Thysanura, a group estimated to have existed for over 300 million years, at least since the Paleozoic Era.[1]

Here you go. Copied from wikipedia.

Shipper

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Aren't those the little critters that like to hide inside of papers, like books, magazines and such?

 

[f3cbboy]

my woodpile is there to dry the wood out - where does all the water come from to support the fish?

 

[madrone]

I brought yellowjackets in the house on 3 occasions this winter. One of those times I was stung on the finger as I was putting wood in the stove. I'd take the silverfish, as long as they stay out of my favorite books.

 

[Shipper50]

Aren't those the little critters that like to hide inside of papers, like books, magazines and such?

I think your thinking of earwigs. The creepy looking crawlers that hide in places that one wouldn't think of.

Shipper

 

[myzamboni]

Thanks! I guess that's the easiest way. I'm in Lompico. Know where that is?

Yes I do. Gonna be in Scotts Valley later this morning to meet friends and then off to the Clam Chowder Festival at the Boardwalk.

 

[breeze530]

Hope you have fun at the chowder fest! It looks like it's gonna rain pretty hard this afternoon though. If I remember right, it was actually rained out last yr.

 

[breeze530]

Aren't those the little critters that like to hide inside of papers, like books, magazines and such?

Yes, that's the ones. They also love to eat your cereal & they multiply fast. Gross things. Earwigs just wander around looking for water & I've never known them to dig in & actually wanna life in your house.

 

[lexybird]

id burn them up , they probably offer some kind of BTU rating ...thats good free heat

 

[raybonz]

We store our main wood properly stacked on the property. We also have a small metal wood holder (don't know the name) that's on our porch, sitting against the house. The bottom shelf is about a foot off the porch. Then we bring in small boxes of what we will need for a day or two.
I went out today to get some wood to bring in from the porch (it's oak) & 2 nasty silverfish jumped off the first 3 or 4 pieces I was going to bring in. I was able to kill them, but I know there are probably certainly more out there.

I lived in another place where I had a silverfish invasion in the house that was terrible to get rid of. I HATE those things! The way I finally got rid of them that time was by using boric acid. What I want to know is if I spinkle the boric acid on the wood while it's outside, will it cause problems when it's burned? Will it create a poisonous gas or something? We already use it around the wood piles & the inside boxes.

Thanks. I'm new to the whole wood thing. My daughter & I live together & we also have propane heaters. But after a $500 bill for 2 months, we shut them off. Now we're only using our Fisher wood stove & I use a radiator type heater in my bdrm. So please excuse my ignorance. I'm thrilled to find this forum!

Bear Grylls swears they taste just like chicken!! Although he prefers to eat bearshit silverfish offer terrific protein in a survival situation...

Ray

 

[TreePapa]

I've never had a wood pile w/o some kind of little critters living in it. One reason I don't pile the wood right next to the house. I try to shake off as much bugs and dirt from the wood as possible when I take it from the pile, after that, the bugs burn just fine. We have a copper washbasin like thing for holding firewood in the house, it contains the mess fairly well.

Peace,
- Sequoia

 

[Bubbavh]

Silverfish although they are weird alien looking bugs are harmless... We used to have them in our house when we first bought it (The previous owner painted over 2 layers of wall paper) they like to feed on wallpaper glue. So unless you have a lot of wallpaper just killing the ones you find inside with a napkin or whatever you choose, will do them in. Get rid of the food source get rid of the bug! I would try not to treat the wood with chemicals.

Check out the bug I found a few weeks ago... It is an internet photo I found on it. My wife wouldn't let me go get the camera to take a photo when she spotted it.
Had I known that these are being sold for $40 a dozen at this site.
http://www.carolina.com/product/living+organisms/animals/live+insects/living+bessbugs.do
I would have tried to sell it on Ebay.

 

[CTZR1]

my woodpile is there to dry the wood out - where does all the water come from to support the fish?

I guess the wood is wetter than you thought