Are logs that have been infested/killed by pine beetles less valuable? Why?

[forestfan]

I heard speculation that logs that have been infested or killed by pine beetles are less valuable.

Why would that be?

Is that true in most parts of the county?

[Woodpecker52]

Blue stain, a fungi from beetle poop, which quickly turns to Black Mold is why.  It is hard to cut pine even in the summer with high humidity because the pine if air dried will have black staining from sugar content etc.  Best time to cut pine is in the winter and if air drying, in full sunlight with tin over the top and leave open sides to breathe. A beetle killed pine around here is worthless.

[barbender]

It depends on the market. Up here, the big Potlatch stud mill doesn't want anything blue stained, which beetle kill invariably is. They don't want stain in their lumber for grading purposes. However, there is a big pallet mill, there as long as the wood is sound they don't care if it is stained. 

 There may also be markets for making blue stained paneling, depending on area. 

[Magicman]

I heard speculation that logs that have been infested or killed by pine beetles are less valuable.

Your general speculation is true due to the vast numbers of dead trees.  I traveled to Baton Rouge, LA, (which is about 125 miles) today and I can assure you that I saw many thousands of dead Pine trees which are a total waste.

Now to your question:
It depends upon your market so less valuable to whom?  Commercial sawmills here will not take them so they have zero value to that market.  Why?  Because they have no idea or way of knowing how long they have been dead so the structural strength is questionable or indeterminable.  There is a glut of logs so their supply of non-dead trees is unending. 

If harvested and sawed soon enough, they have the same value to the landowner as before.  I am steadily sawing logs from beetle killed trees that are #2+ grade so the value of those logs to the landowner is still 100% of what it was.  The problem to the landowner is that he is still loosing many trees/logs that were not harvested quickly enough.

[Ianab]

Commercial mills wont want standing dead trees as they have no easy way of knowing how long it's been dead, and therefore how degraded it's become. Blue stain is the first stage of fungal decay, where an initial fungus spreads through the wood consuming the easy to digest sugars. This stains the wood, but doesn't weaken it much, so it's still good for decorative or non critical applications (pallets etc). But after the blue stain, then bugs and other fungus get to work and the wood structure starts to badly degrade. How fast depends on species, season and climate. But the mills run on such tight margins they can't afford to toss 10% of the logs they buy, so they just don't take a risk with them. They want logs they KNOW are fresh and sound. 

Magicman is sawing logs for the landowners, so they can make the call if they are worth sawing, and that mainly comes down to how long they have been dead. If he says "Toss this one on the reject pile" occasionally, it's not a deal breaker. 

[Southside]

Another aspect is that large mills are producing a commodity, and consistency is key in the commodity market.  

[moodnacreek]

Bright clean pine boards don't mix with blue stained boards in the customers eyes. The handling and sorting of lumber is where the real work is and where you loose money. If all the boards had a little stain along the edges it would not be so bad with the rough barn boards I sell but it never works out that way.

[barbender]

I've seen blue stain in commercial lumber. In fact, the commercial 2x6's I built our house with had blue stain. It came out of Canada, I assumed it was probably beetle killed lodgepole pine. Beetle kill in the arid mountain west will go a lot longer without degrade. Again, location and market.

[Frickman]

About thirty-five years ago my area was hit hard by gypsy moths.  There were thousands of acres of oak timber killed.  We rushed to harvest as much as we could before it decayed on the stump, but some timber stood too long and developed a lot of worm holes.  Tiny little holes about 1/8" in diameter. The conventional wholesale grade markets rejected this wood, but some enterprising folks marketed this wood on the character the worm holes provided.  For many years I sought out gypsy moth killed oak to sell to these new markets.  All we did was take the lemons we were given and made lemonade. 

[BaldBob]

I've seen blue stain in commercial lumber. In fact, the commercial 2x6's I built our house with had blue stain. It came out of Canada, I assumed it was probably beetle killed lodgepole pine. Beetle kill in the arid mountain west will go a lot longer without degrade. Again, location and market.

All the above comments re pine killed by bark beetles is true, however it is interesting to note that some 40 years ago the company I worked for was able to sell Blue Stained pine lumber for a premium. They called it Blue Mountain Rustic and catered to a customer base that desired rustic paneling for their rec rooms,dens,etc. This market only lasted a few years as the look became trite.

[moodnacreek]

Probably the most attractive worm infested [worms gone] lumber is silver maple. Cut live, sawn and stickered while fresh and white this 'wormy maple' is really something. Offering blue stain pine as a novelty would be tricky without a kiln. If the stain is already in the logs and after sawed hot humid and not windy weather comes in it will go way beyond blue and can become black with white fuzz growing.