Bugs: worries after air drying?

Erik A · March 01, 2021, 01:48:12 AM

I have read about PPB's eating dry wood and carpenter bees, obviously could run into termites if lumber touches the dirt!

So... any heads up or references for other bugs that will continue being a threat after the lumber is air dried?

I thought I read that grubs dont like wood after the MC drops down.

I dont have a kiln to kill the buggers, have read a bit about chemicals to paint on the boards.

Just read PPB's attack hard wood not soft wood (Pine) ??

Some pine boards - going to do some semi-rustic signs with the origin so dont care about the bug holes (just the bugs if there are any)

kantuckid · March 01, 2021, 08:49:35 AM

Good luck keeping carpenter bees out of pine or poplar. Other than spraying and crossing my fingers and eyes, my traps have worked the best. Yes, I have tried every spray used commercially, plugged the larvae holes, etc., but they are one nasty critter. I've read that poplar & cedar are their natural homes in the woods. My traps are made from cedar 3x3 scraps with a top board for mounting. main problem I've had is rusty canning jar rings & lids used to hold pint jars full of bee corpses. Maybe should have gone with water btl design traps but I just didn't want the plastic bottles hanging from my eaves!
Why do we have them now is a question I've had? I have a small stack of EWP beams dead stacked under a roof and they have been loving it for ~ 15 years since stacked. hopefully I'll have enough left to use for porch rafters on my small cabin build.
Walmart has a Chinese bee trap selling for $17.95! Made from plastic and a corpse storage thingy. It's a war folks.

YellowHammer · March 01, 2021, 08:56:34 AM

Air dried or kiln dried wood is the perfect meal for some of the more nasty and insidious insects. There is no residual protection in dried wood, it is an open Happy Meal for anything that wants to move in. You can spray with Timbor or Boracare and that will help protect by putting up a barrier on the wood surface, but won't kill the bugs inside. However, it is much better than doing nothing.

Mulberry, persimmon and such are a sweet wood and are very prone to insect infestation.

I get call maybe once a month or two from people who build inside or build furniture with non sterilized wood and have "weird" bugs flying around in their house and ask what they can do about it. I always tell them the same thing "call an exterminator."

alan gage · March 01, 2021, 04:03:46 PM

I air dried some ash and then milled it into flooring for my house. Had some borers hatch out of it a month or two later. Didn't bother me but a customer probably wouldn't have been so happy (nor a wife if there was one). The cat was pretty entertained by it.

Was air drying some honey locsut slabs with bark on. They were down to about 16% when I peeled the bark off and found plenty of happy little grubs. I'm sure they were there when the log was sawn.

Alan

farmfromkansas · March 16, 2021, 01:57:33 PM

You need to read up on the "solubor" threads. Right after you saw your boards, roll a mix of solubor on it, all 6 surfaces, before you stack and dry it.

Trackerbuddy · March 16, 2021, 06:16:19 PM

bora-care kills active infestations and prevents bugs. I've had success with it in the past.
You can buy it ready made or
There are recipes floating around the web. It's ethylene glycol, boric acid and borax. After cooking it becomes hydroscopic. The solution seeks water in the wood carrying the borate with it. When insects eat the wood they die. It's best sprayed on wood that is green before air drying it. The borate penetrates deeper that way.
It stays in the wood permanently and does not effect future working properties or finishes

Sponsors:

Bugs: worries after air drying?

Erik A

kantuckid

YellowHammer

alan gage

farmfromkansas

Trackerbuddy

Thank You Sponsors!