pine tree beetles

[sray19]

 I am having trouble with a small stand of pine trees.  I can hear some type of beetle eating inside the tree.  Several trees die each year.  I would like to know if there is anything we can do to be rid of the beetle.  We live in Louisville, KY,(incase you needed to know the area).
Thank you

[L. Wakefield]

   I have definitely heard pine borers working in downed pine remnants- they are amazingly loud! I don't know whether they infest standing timber.
                     LW

[Hugh Darty]

The bugs ya'll hear are wood sawyers. They eat the  trunk of the tree after it is dead. The beetles that actually kill the tree usually eat the cambrian layer under the bark, thus girdling and killing it. These are normally southern pine beetles if your trees are yellow pine.
 Your trees probably are too crowded, causing them to be weak and susceptible. Your best bet is to thin your trees and improve the stand, making them healthier and more bug resistant  

[Texas Ranger]

Hugh is right on, sawyers make the noise, what killed the trees were gone long before the noise makers came.  Usually if there is a scattering of pines dying on the property it is Ips engraver beetle, rather than the Southern Pine Beetle, or possibly Black Turpentine Beetles.  Last few years in the south have been stressful on pines, and the beetles have been busy.  Thin the stand, take out a little of both over and under story, talk to a consultant, or an extension forester.  Buyers may just tell you "ya gotta cut to stop them pesky beetles", so take caution.

[Bill Johnson]

One thing I'll kick in is after you thin the stand try to get rid of as much slash and debris as possible. This stuff usually provides a good holding site for insects that either weaken or kill the trees and the sawyer beetles that follow them.
Sawyers usually attack shortly after the primary bark beetles have become established,and because of their large size and loud gnawing are often erroneously thought to be the cause of tree death.
Bill