Powder Post Beetles, first encounter

[Old Greenhorn]

Never had a problem or even really recognized the PPB before now. It's never been an issue, but in my 5 cord pile for the house seems to be infested this year for the first time I can ever recall. As I work my way down into the pile I am seeing lots of dust and it just seems to be everywhere, at least on one side of the pile. I may have seen a few of these when I was splitting last June, I don't know. We have lots of bugs here and I can't keep track of them all, maybe I should.
 My question is, should I have some concerns? I bring in a days supply of wood each day and any bugs in the wood seem to burn just fine.  None have shown up in the house. I have not found any of the holes one would expect, but I haven't searched too hard.  I am wondering if I have any wood left at the end of the season, do I need to purge it out to start fresh? I don't want this to be an every year occurrence.
Tom

[Old Greenhorn]

Wow, 5 days and all I hear is crickets on this thread. It must have been a stupid question. Does everyone have problems with these, or no one?   

[Don P]

No, not at all, I started a post then figured somebody smart would answer. First off it may or may not be ppb's. They have talcum powder like frass. most of the other beetles it is coarser, more like pellets or powder with grit... the bark beetles, ambrosia etc. Not that it matters a whole lot, you don't really want to import bugs. I like to bring in wood directly into the stove so they wake up in the fire. Burn it all this year or move the pile away from structures. scrape to bare ground and don't pile there next year. I have taken a break during hatch time and realized several times I'm sitting in a swarm of the tiny buggers. Burn and scrape and borate if they set up housekeeping. Yellow thing outside... woohoo, off to saw!

[thecfarm]

I sure don't know. But a days woods inside,would they have time to thaw out? Doubt it. But if one fell out and thawed out??  
 My wood is so dead,the bugs are long gone.  :D

[Old Greenhorn]

Now I am starting to think I am imagining this problem. First, upon careful inspection I can find no holes in any of the wood, and the dust that I saw seems to be the flaky stuff that came off those long dead white oaks I cut up with the pithy outer layer. Still, I did find some of the bugs last spring when I was bucking and splitting. Maybe they stayed in the bark pile which is well away from where I stack. I'll just have to keep an eye on it while I am waiting for the big yellow thing to show up here.

[MAF143]

Are you positive they are powder post beetles?

Post some pictures.  How big are the boring holes?  We had PPBs in our barn and I treated the whole barn with Timbor using a backpack sprayer, a helmet with face shield visor, a cheapo white whole body Hazmat suit, and a respirator.  I have not had PPB in firewood, but I have had other critters in my firewood.  

I usually have 15 to 30 days worth of wood in my basement and had the following experience:  
http://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=104302.0

Have you seen any of the bugs?

Google search is your friend on this stuff.  There are tons of helpful sites with pictures to assist you in figuring out what you have and how to or if you even need to treat for them.

Call your county ag office / forester, they may be able to assist in identifying the bug / beetle and let you know if they are a threat to your house.

[KEC]

In my experience, those beetles are especially fond of hickory and seem to infest hickory soon after it is cut.

[GAB]

Dear @ Old Greenhorn:
I do not think I'm that far from you, and I sure wish you would keep your stock to home.
I have 6000 +/- 1000 board feet of maple that is infected with powder post beetles.
I had a retired forestry professor from the University of VT identify them for me, and it took him all of 5 seconds.
I have some ash, bitternut hickory, and shagbark hickory that I will be checking for the same condition.
I will soon be cutting some up for firewood.
GAB

[Old Greenhorn]

Just a followup here. I believe I pulled the alarm too quickly. I can find no holes and did a lot of searching one clear day. I believe what I had was a lot of dust powder from the wood that had worked it's way down through the stack as things dried. I am probably reading too many threads here about bugs and problems and got the suggestion in my head. Some of the wood had a pithy outer layer because they were dead and down trees with solid hearts I used for firewood (I waste nothing). 
 The wood is clean, GAB there is no need to panic, and no, my 'stock' does not travel more than 500 yards. But it sounds like you have more problems than I and should quarantine your stock, sorry. It wasn't my fault.
Tom

[GAB]

Just a followup here. I believe I pulled the alarm too quickly. I can find no holes and did a lot of searching one clear day. I believe what I had was a lot of dust powder from the wood that had worked it's way down through the stack as things dried. I am probably reading too many threads here about bugs and problems and got the suggestion in my head. Some of the wood had a pithy outer layer because they were dead and down trees with solid hearts I used for firewood (I waste nothing).
The wood is clean, GAB there is no need to panic, and no, my 'stock' does not travel more than 500 yards. But it sounds like you have more problems than I and should quarantine your stock, sorry. It wasn't my fault.
Tom

OH-OK
GAB

[jerry sundberg]

I've got ppbs in my tractor shed and they make a mess on every thing. Dust as fine as flour. Pin hole size holes for exits, hard to see. Timbor is the only chemical treatment for them. I think they like any type of wood especially Aspen and Balsam.