Borer Bugs in Mesquite

[tim walker]

I was recently in Fredericksburg, TX and was bale to purchase some pretty large piecs of 8/4 mesquite. Once I got it home, I started noticing fine sawdust. I assume my wood has some sort of boring bugs or beetles. What can I do to get rid of them?

[Erik Loza]

The standard answer will be kiln drying. What do you intend to use the mesquite for, if you don't mind if I ask? I remember doing a local show once, resawing a burl of mesquite, and seeing a few wriggling "half-grubs" fallout after I made the cut.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[tim walker]

Havent really decided yet, most likely some sort of table top? THe stock is 8/4 approx by 3 ft by 1.5'.

[Roger Rayburn]

Put the slab in a big garbage bag, seal it up and put it in the sun (preferably on a concrete slab to add some solar reflection) for a couple weeks to fry the buggers. You don't want any of them left inside to escape and discover a preference for the framing in your house.

[Jim Andrew]

Fine sawdust is an indicator of powder post beetles, the worst kind of borers. Do NOT use the wood until after you get it hot enough to kill the beetles, as they can infest your buildings, and it is hard to heat a building hot enough to kill them. Fumigation does not work. The wood doc once posted the only way to get rid of the beetles is to burn the wood, but getting hot enough for long enough will kill them. I have put boards with beetles in a metal grain bin in summer, and the beetles were gone after a few weeks. It gets hot in a grain bin.