Woodworm

[Duncan S]

Today having freed up a bit of space I moved a pile of 21/2” oak crook boards saved for the floor timbers of Paul Gartside design 163 (http://www.gartsideboats.com/catsail2.php#cutter19) I noticed a few little holes and little piles of sawdust typical of what I would call woodworm. :mad:

They were in the bark/waney edge and sapwood that I wont be using anyway but it is a bit concerning as I don’t want to have these hard to come by timbers being ruined, or even worse the little feckers moving on for a munch of the work already completed.

What would you guys suggest? Would be an idea to spray with a timber treatment? Or will this affect the drying of the timber?

Thoughts greatly appreciated

[ishmael]

Here in the NE U.S. there's a little booger we call a powder post beetle which doesn't munch beyond the sap. It's the beetle's larva. I don't know about Ireland, but I'll bet what you have is similar. A local agricultural/forestry office, or university entymology department will have good info.

Don't panic!

[Mrleft8]

First thing you can do is cut off all the sapwood/bark edge, and burn it.
Next is you can treat it all with a (Imagine THIS! A coincidental thread!!!!!) Borate solution.

[Plover]

Get a good size mason brush and a five gallon bucket throw 2 gallons of kerosene in it, paint them real good with it, and don't worry about anything! Or you can use any decent garden sprayer. Do it twice to 3 times and it should be good.

[Bob Smalser]

...oak crook boards saved for the floor timbers... a few little holes and little piles of sawdust typical of what I would call woodworm. :mad:

They were in the bark/waney edge and sapwood



Beetle larvae.

If they are confined to the sapwood and none or only a few penetrate the adjacent heartwood, and then only slightly, they are Ambrosia or Scarab Beetle larvae and will die as soon as the lumber seasons to 19% MC or below, with no ill effects to the heartwood.

If they are smaller holes primarily in the heartwood (photo at the link below), and are in dry lumber, they are Powder Post Beetles and you should discard the entire pile. They can spread and infest the adjacent structure if you have this wood stored indoors.

You can treat Ambrosia with various insecticides, but they aren't necessary. When the wood dries, the critters die. None of your home treatments penetrate to the center of the boards with 100pct reliability without either pressure or gas fumigation anyway.

Brown Rot, White Rot and other Wood Pestilence
http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=67984

[Iceboy]

Close it up in a tarp and dump a bunch of dry ice in with it.

[Duncan S]

Thanks for the replies folks. I don’t think it is too serious, as a precaution I am going to cut out the offending section out and spray something nasty on the rest of the stack.

A quick rake round the net could really scare you. Here is one of the better - less alarmist European sites I found.
http://www.safeguardeurope.com/pdf_datasheets/woodworm_guide.pdf (http://www.safeguardeurope.com/pdf_datasheets/woodworm_guide.pdf)

Lets hope it is the WANEY EDGE BORER(Ernobius mollis)

Bob, the above site says Ambrosia beetles dont leave any bore dust?

[ishmael]

Duncan,

Before you go spraying poisons get a better idea of what it is. Poisons will make the wood kinda icky to handle.

As mentioned, it's probably not boring beyond the sap wood, which you are going to discard anyway. No reason to take a club to a tennis match. If it's something different, then all bets are off.

A kinda fun story. When I was hiking in the U.S. Southwest I cut a walking stick from the century plant. So named because it blooms at long irregular intervals. The stalk made a great stick, wirey and not liable to break, I carried it on a lot of hiking trips. One day there was a little pile of dust under it. Some poor SW beetle booger had been slumbering there and woke up a stranger in a strange land.

I hope I didn't cause a contagion. I doubt I did, he probably needed the century plant to reproduce.

Best of luck,

Jack