Powder/wood dust in little piles on lumber

[cody michael]

I have black walnut in my barn it is just air dried. It has some little piles of dust in spots. I'm assuming it's some type of bug, how do I kill it?

[johnny means]

Kiln drying. There are other options that require a professional exterminator.

[Lee Schierer]

What you have are powder post beetles and they can and will spread to other lumber. Kiln drying usually takes care of them.

[cody michael]

Are there any other options? I think they are in my barn also, no way to kiln dry that. Something like a spray etc.

[Dave Sabo]

You can tent them off and then gas them. Like johnny says - it’s not a diy job.

[roger wiegand]

For the barn, assuming the wood is accessible, spray it down thoroughly with BoraCare. If your state allows tenting and fumigation you can do that, but it is not cheap. Most states have banned the fumigant for this use. The borate spray is effective and pretty non-toxic to humans and pets, and if applied DIY, relatively cheap. It took about 5 gallons to treat my barn which had a terrible powderpost beetle infestation when we got it. No sign of bugs six years later.

For the lumber, either pitch it or heat treat it. As I recall the number is something like 145 degrees for 8 hours to kill PPB.

[cody michael]

For the barn, assuming the wood is accessible, spray it down thoroughly with BoraCare. If your state allows tenting and fumigation you can do that, but it is not cheap. Most states have banned the fumigant for this use. The borate spray is effective and pretty non-toxic to humans and pets, and if applied DIY, relatively cheap. It took about 5 gallons to treat my barn which had a terrible powderpost beetle infestation when we got it. No sign of bugs six years later.

For the lumber, either pitch it or heat treat it. As I recall the number is something like 145 degrees for 8 hours to kill PPB.

Do you know hoe Tim-Bor compares? seems comparable but cheaper. This is more the option I was looking for. I don;t see any good way to kill every beetle in my barn. If I kiln the wood won't they just come back?

[Jim Becker]

Do you know hoe Tim-Bor compares? seems comparable but cheaper. This is more the option I was looking for. I don;t see any good way to kill every beetle in my barn. If I kiln the wood won't they just come back?

They can't come back to the treated material if you don't put the wood back in the barn... ;)

[Bradley Gray]

There was a thread here in the past few years detailing how to make your own Bora-care mixture - much cheaper

[Charles Taylor]

There was a thread here in the past few years detailing how to make your own Bora-care mixture - much cheaper


In fact that thread is a sticky in the Sawmill & Kiln Drying forum.

[cody michael]

They can't come back to the treated material if you don't put the wood back in the barn... ;)



I don't have any other place to store it.

I ordered Tim-bor I will test it out.

[Scott Donley]

Could also be termites. Look up photos of "frass" see if it looks the same.

[Allan Speers]

Do you know hoe Tim-Bor compares? seems comparable but cheaper. This is more the option I was looking for. I don;t see any good way to kill every beetle in my barn. If I kiln the wood won't they just come back?

Timbor doesn't sink deep into the wood. It's fine as a preventative, but not once you have infestation.

- Of this I am 100% certain.

[Paul Mosteller]

Do yo know if BoraCare penetrate any deeper than Timbor?

[johnny means]

I had to travel from Delaware to Florida to disassemble an installation to deliver it to an exterminator because of these buggers. Then of course, I had to reinstall after tenting. All on my dime, of course. That was three years after the initial delivery. IMO, I'd deal with it right or burn it.

[Jacob Reverb]

I cut a few cords of (green) maple and cherry (blowdowns) last April or May, and I don't know, the planets must have been aligned perfectly or something, but that wood was loaded with PP beetles. When I went to start bringing in some of the wood last winter to burn it, there were many, many pounds of firewood converted to frass. Seemed like every time I made a "firewood run" to bring a truckload into the house, I got that miserable frass blowing into my eyes...it's hard to get out of your eyes and a real irritant!

I Googled PP beetles to make sure they weren't a threat to the wood in your house when you brought them into the house with your firewood, and the paper I found claimed they present no threat...but I'm not entirely convinced. The piles of frass continued appearing long after the wood was in the house...

[cody michael]

Timbor doesn't sink deep into the wood. It's fine as a preventative, but not once you have infestation.

- Of this I am 100% certain.

I ordered Bora care also. Anything I think is infected I will spray Bora. Other stuff I spray timber.

[Jim Andrew]

If you could get the heat in the entire building to 140 for about 10 hours and hold it, you could rid the building of ppb. Of course there is the risk of getting the building on fire.

[cody michael]

If you could get the heat in the entire building to 140 for about 10 hours and hold it, you could rid the building of ppb. Of course there is the risk of getting the building on fire.

The only way to get that building to 140 would be to light it on fire.

[David Utterback]

In the day, I have been in hay lofts that approached 130+ but unlikely it would remain that high for the summer daylight hours. Are the board lengths such that you might seal them in black plastic and leave in the sun?

[Larry Copas]

Normally PPB don't care for walnut heartwood and remain in the sapwood. Triming off the sapwood may take care take care of the problem. There are exceptions.

Kiln drying will not kill them unless heat treating is part of the process for 24 hours.

Heating the lumber in a cargo trailer is a DIY option.

As already stated, chemicals are for preventing infestations, not a cure.

[Jacques Gagnon]

For those interested in learning more about powder post beetles, there is an interesting paper from University of Kentucky on the subject. Run a search for Entfact-648; very good information.

https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/files/ef616.pdf

Regards,

J.

[Allan Speers]

I ordered Bora care also. Anything I think is infected I will spray Bora. Other stuff I spray timber.


If you have Timbor, and want it to work like Bora, you could probably mix it with some Ethyl Glycol. That will help the Timbor penetrate the wood better.

- But excercise caution as that's nasty stuff!

[Allan Speers]

In fact that thread is a sticky in the Sawmill & Kiln Drying forum.


That sticky is from me. It has the formula for both Bora Care & Timbor types.

Sadly, I have become an expert on beetles, over the years. :o

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BTW - At some point (years ago) I made a few semi-significant changes to all that data. I sent it to the moderators but I don't think they ever updated the sticky, which is unfortunate. The information is VERY long, so I won't post it here, but if anyone wants the updated docs, shoot me a message & your email address, and I'll send it as PDF files.