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Bugs in my wood!

Started by JuniperBoss, February 18, 2013, 09:06:21 PM

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JuniperBoss

The other day I was out cutting some firewood. I knocked down a Juniper tree, and started cutting it up. The bark fell off really easy, which is unheard of for a living Juniper tree. I brushed some of it off and exposed the bark, crawling with bugs. They had eaten the bark away from the wood, and were everywhere! Then, today I went out and hauled some dry wood that had been sitting on the surface of the ground for several months. I threw them into the shed and some of the pieces were losing their bark, and bugs were crawling out of them.
My Concerns
1. Can these bugs kill trees?
2. Can these bugs eat up my firewood pile?

I doubt this is any problem, but any info would be great. I don't know anything about bark beetles.


This is what the bug did.

"The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense." --- Thomas Edison

Sonofman

I do not know about your bugs in paticular, JB, but some bugs got into some of my firewood. It is all oak and hickory, and they drill a few little holes, about the size of a pencil lead with a little pile of very fine dust below the hole. The bugs were in only one row of firewood and had not migrated to any other, when I unthinkingly tossed some from the bug pile to another row. Well, I noticed a few months later, the new row was well infested.

Fortunately, my bugs seem to need physical contact to transfer. They are in 2 rows of wood that touch each other and are right next to all the rest of my wood. However, there is no physical contact between the infested wood and the rest and the rest is not infested. I will finish burning the infested wood this winter and hopefully that will end my problem.

I guess if your bugs are crawling out from under the bark when it comes off, all your wood will get infested. I can only advise to quarantine as well as possible and you might get rid of them. From your picture, I can only guess you might loose some of your wood volume, but all you can do is all you can do.
Located due west of Due West.

g_man

I'm not an expert but they look like a bark bettle to me. Probably helped kill the tree. It is my understanding that softwood cut up for firewood will not harbor bugs. They will die or leave. Hardwood on the other hand can be attacked by borers as Sonofman has seen. Most bugs are killed if the wood is kept dry and exposed to the heat of the sun, like in a shed.

JuniperBoss

My main concern is whether or not the beetles will be carried to a customer's house, crawl off and kill all of their beautiful trees in their yard. This, I fear, could result in a legal issue?
"The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense." --- Thomas Edison

g_man

Ahh. I am not the guy to answer that question. Pose your question above on the "Ask A Forester" forem. You will find that they are very helpful and knowledgeable.

JuniperBoss

Thank you very much for the advice g-man. I'll go over there. While this is in the firewood and wood heating section, I suppose all I can ask for is if anyone has experienced the same thing, and if it posed a problem for them.
"The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense." --- Thomas Edison

Texas Ranger

Some one from your part of the world will have an answer, meanwhile, an observation, bark beetles don't hang around when the bark slips.
The Ranger, home of Texas Forestry

JuniperBoss

Ah, so they don't bore into the wood, but when they chew away the bark from the wood, they go and find somewhere else to chew. Good to know that I won't lose much of my wood, just maybe the bark.
"The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense." --- Thomas Edison

Ivan49

Quote from: JuniperBoss on February 19, 2013, 06:13:12 PM
Ah, so they don't bore into the wood, but when they chew away the bark from the wood, they go and find somewhere else to chew. Good to know that I won't lose much of my wood, just maybe the bark.

One way to find out is to split a pice of the wood and see if they bored into it. Usually when the wood dries out the bugs leave. Good Luck

SwampDonkey

I don't know the scale of those entrails, but I suspect engraver beetles got in when the tree was harvested. As soon as the moisture drops off a bit in the wood, they leave. They do that under fir and spruce bark on windfalls or dead snags or logs left for a while piled up on a yard and not moved to the mill. The sugars are in the outter sapwood where the bugs feed, they don't bore into the pith to eat. Only carpenters go deep, to make galleries for their nest, not to eat the wood.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

WDH

Insects love wood.  It is natural.  They are in dead or cut wood everywhere.  It is the way of things.  Most of these insects hit the wood while it still has some moisture.  Once the wood begins to really dry, they leave. 

However, there are a few bad actors out there like the emerald ash borer.  They can be spread by transported firewood.  The good thing is that they only infest ash. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

mesquite buckeye

Look like engraver beetles to me too. Sometimes can get a premium for roundwood with them to make vigas or furniture...... ;D
Manage 80 acre tree farm in central Missouri and Mesquite timber and about a gozillion saguaros in Arizona.

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