Bug bombs?

[LaneC]

Hello all.
  I have read several threads about bugs, beetles etc. being in the wood or getting into the wood while drying in a kiln. Would it hurt, help or do any good to set off a bug bomb (the areosol cans that you set off and leave for while) inside the kiln when it is first loaded, to kill any bugs that are anywhere around the wood while inside the kiln? I would think this may be just a little insurance to kill any bad bugs from doing any harm while the wood is drying. Any opinions, suggestions? Thanks for any comments etc.

[ely]

i use bug bombs in my air drying sheds but you should not need anything in the kilns as the heat kills all bugs that i know of.

[pineywoods]

Bug bombs might kill the bugs, but won't do anything to eggs. Heat kills bugs and cooks the eggs...end of problem..

[WDH]

The beetles lay their eggs on the wood, the larvae hatch and move into the wood via the water conducting cells (sometimes called pores).  A bug bomb will not penetrate into the wood where the beetle larvae are.  If the green lumber is sprayed with a borate solution, the borate kills the larvae when they hatch. 

Ambrosia beetles are the most common.  They leave little black lined holes in the wood, but they also leave the wood as it starts drying as they cannot live in dry wood.  They are fairly harmless except for the cosmetic effect of the little holes.

Powderpost beetles, on the other hand, like dry lumber, as in air dry lumber stored in a barn or shed, and they are partial to woods with large pores like oak, ash hickory, elm, pecan, etc.  They will totally ruin the wood, and infested wood is like a trojan horse.  They come in on an infected piece and can spread into other dry wood, like wood in your house or floor.  They are the Bad Boys.  The borate solution keeps them out of the wood in the first place, and a kiln can be heated to a temp that will toast all the beetles, larvae, and eggs.

[LaneC]

Thanks for the info.

[Seaman]

So after you kiln the wood, do you spray Borate to keep PPBs out of the dry wood?

[WDH]

I spray the boards green off the sawmill. 

[yukon cornelius]

im totally new to this and really had no idea but I may have a problem. I bought a mill and we bult our house last fall. I cut the lumber and built with green lumber (oak, hickory, and cedar) without spraying or anything. the interior of the house is still unfinished. can I spray now or is it too late? sorry to hijack the thread!

[Ianab]

Bugs wont be interested in dry cedar, so that's safe.

Other unfinished wood? It should be safe to spray some borate now. All you need is to wet the surface, that's where the bugs lay eggs. They hatch, start chewing on the borate impregnated wood, and die. Even if some bugs have gotten in there, you will discourage them from re-infesting the wood once they hatch out.

A layer of varnish or paint is also pretty good protection.

Ian

[LaneC]

Do you mean wet the surface and then put the borate? I guess that makes it stick to the surface or is borate a liquid?

[Ianab]

Borate is a salt. You dissolve it in water, then fill up your garden sprayer with the mix. Then wet down the wood with it. The water then dries off, and leaves borate soaked into the surface layer of the wood, and that should discourage bugs.

[WDH]

Like Ian says, a finish, like varnish, will prevent the beetle larvae from entering the wood in most cases. 

[ely]

I have built my entire house out of raw wood off the mill, I have seen a few spots where the small bugs had some activity. I never really worried about it much because now I am putting lacquer over it all on the inside.

[LaneC]

Thanks Ian. I thought it was a powder. Thanks again.

[Ianab]

Well you do buy it as a powder 

But dissolving it and spraying is the best way to apply it.

[LaneC]

ok. thanks Ian. I had read somewhere about that Borate and I thought they said to spray the powder in carpenter bee holes to kill the new bees when they come out. I am assuming that is correct and not disolve it in water and spray in the carpenter bee holes. The carpenter bees are terrible down here and will destroy ann entire shed in a few years.

[rasman57]

Wonder what a few weeks of below freezing temps does to them?

[Ianab]

Probably doesn't kill the eggs?

I mean, wood eating bugs live in areas that get serious freezing in winter, They must have some way of making it through the winter. Even if it's just in egg form.

Ian