Critters in birch logs

[Gary Pennington]

Had a dying birch taken down in our yard about 6 weeks ago, cut into 2' chunks, sealed with anchor seal then stored in a shed until I could get time to turn. Cut the first chunk in half, then quarters to find this critter wiggling at me. Put two of the quarters on the lathe to turn round thinking any thing in/under the bark would be sliced into 1/16" pieces. Both of them show holes going well below the cambium layer.

I put all the chips and the wood into sealed plastic bags so I can decide what to do. I have a dozen or so nice blocks, likely all are infested. I had hoped to turn while still damp so heating to kill the critters isn't on top of my list. I can't imagine a powder or granular insecticide will do anything to the burrowed critters.

Can someone point me to a treatment resource, I'd sure hate to loose all this nice birch.

Thanks, Gary

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[Maurice Mcmurry]

There is a fumigating process that I heard about from the late Burton Greg (lumber salesman for Frank Paxton and other lumber company's). Train cars full of Ash lumber were sealed and fumigated with something that was said to be safe for humans. I have looked some on the web. I will look again. I doused some infested ash down with Ortho Bug Stop. I accidentally milled a piece of it later and had a very bad allergy attack.

From the web, Treat with Borax and / or Borate, or warm to 130 degrees for 24 hours

[Paul Williams]

I did the bug spray thing that Maurice mentioned to some pieces that a friend sent me from Arizona. Started cutting and found lots of bugs. I sprayed the wood. Then stuck it in a plastic bag filled with bug spray. Winter was coming to Minnesota so after a few weeks I took the wood out of the bag and left it outside over winter. When I turned it, I wore a good mask and kept the windows open. I don't know if this is a good procedure or not, but it seemed to work on a few pieces.

[Gary Pennington]

Thanks Maurice and Paul,
Boric acid looks like a winner--non toxic to humans and pets. Hopefully Tractor Supply will have it in liquid form so I can spray the blocks as well as everything in the building surrounding my stash. If not I'll get the powder and dust everything down.

Thanks again, Gary

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

You can heat the wood. IIRC, the US Dept of Ag and US Customs requires imported logs and firewood be heated to 138 degrees for 20 minutes to kill pests. I remember a florist near my home as a kid would sterilize soil for use in his green house by pumping steam into an out house type building where the soil was held in wire baskets. The wood will not dry out if you keep the humidity high. Don't know if you have access to an old fashioned steam jenny, I had a nice piece of log with some crawlers. I put the log section in a garbage bag, sealed it and put it in the trunk of my car and left the car in the hot summer sun all day. Not a creature was stirring thereafter and the wood didn't dry out any.

[Dave Mount]

If you want to use the kitchen oven to get that heat, get one of those plastic turkey roasting bags and put the wood in that while heating. Keeps the moisture in so it won't check. Will take a long time to heat a large blank to the center.

Best,

Dave

[Gary Pennington]

The oven would be a good solution but there's no way I'm even broaching the subject of putting live critters in the oven--my sweetie is awesome but even she has limits. Will deal with these guys with boric acid while the wood is still in the shed.

gary

[Maurice Mcmurry]

The oven would be a good solution but there's no way I'm even broaching the subject of putting live critters in the oven--my sweetie is awesome but even she has limits.

Gary, I have an old curb-side salvage BBQ with 4 light bulbs inside. It does a good job getting billets as hot as you want. It is good for drying paint, stain and varnish as well.

Photo 3 of 12 from Black Locust (https://sawmillcreek.org/album.php?albumid=984&attachmentid=490630)

[Brice Rogers]

Gary Pennington, I read that boric acid is soluble in water. The dollar stores will sell you a big bottle (half empty) of roach powder that is actually boric acid. If I were you, I'd give it a try.

On some blanks with active beetles, I've sprayed termite spray into the tunnels with success. Unfortunately, I didn't check to see what the active ingredients were. Perhaps it was just boric acid in a solution or perhaps something else.

[Gary Pennington]

Brice,
Picked up two bottles yesterday, going to douse the blocks today.

Gary