[Irishman]

Received an email from my brother in another province telling me that 5 of my carvings were dropped off to his house from a shop that was carrying some of my carvings. They told him that they saw evidence of sawdust around one of my carvings and feared that there were termites in the wood! The shop is a furniture store so they didn't want to take any chances. I expect its probably earwigs rather than termites making the dust. I typically strip the bark from the logs now to prevent bugs and such from invading other peoples homes. Any suggestions on how I can ensure that my log wood carvings are insect free?
Patrick

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

stick them in the freezer for a few days....and if it was a furniture store, most likely "their" termites lol

[AlArchie]

Earwigs are not wood eaters, and if there is an infestation of these little buggers, that gray dust around their abodes is not wood dust, but fecal droppings. Tiny little gray beads not much bigger'n the point of a pin. They (the earwigs, not the droppings)take up residence in any small crack or cranny they can find, especially late in the fall. If you have stripped the bark off all your logs and sticks and can't find any holes or burrows into the wood, odds are you don't have a problem. Some of these borers leave only tiny holes, though 1/16" or less, while others like termites and carpenter ants leave fairly large burrows 1/4" or so and run tunnels with the grain. There are also several types of wasp-like critters (horntails) that have long ovipositors, rather than stingers and they bore into the wood of box elder and some maples, deposit their eggs in tiny holes and then the larvae eat their way around in trhe wood for a while before pupating and emerging. The horntails spread fungal infections to help break down the wood for their larvae.

The larvae are parasitized by the smaller larvae of ther ichnueminon fly (another pretty ugly critter)

I'd suggest a close visual inspection of all your wood, then as Dave suggested, the freezer for a few days, although if you are from a northern tier state, any bugs or grubs you have can most likely over-winter sub zero temps, so you might have to find another cure!

Al

[Ashbys]

Patrick ,
According to the Dept of Trans the only way to insure that pest in wood are dead is to heat treat the lumber. Although they also say that lumber that is kept dry and stored in well vented areas 90 percent of all vermin will be dead. In a year!
Not much help but kinda goes with the new standards for wood containers which is being considered.

[brent]

Microwave 'em, if the wood is small enough to fit in one.

[brian bailey]

Here's a link describing some wood munchers.

http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardand...owderpost.html


Note, freezing is not effective because of the insects ability to acclimate to the lower temps unless flash frozen.

Current thinking on heat treatment is 56* C. core temp. for at least 30 mins.

http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:...s&ct=clnk&cd=2

[AlArchie]

That's about 135 degrees F.

Al

[Lynn O. Doughty]

If that Congressman can do it with his ill-gotten gains it should apply to woodcarvings too. Into the cooler!! Then raise your prices depending on the hole count! More holes.....more bucks!

[Irishman]

It almost sound that I should freeze and then heat the buggers! Unfortunately neither method is practical with the size of the wood I carve. I will be stripping the bark from now on which may get at the surface pest.
Al, you should write an article for the next issue in the carving magazine - you know your stuff.
The latest speculation is that it was ants in the wood. Termites are rare in our parts so I've ruled that out.
Thanks for the sites and tips everyone.
Patrick

[AlArchie]

Thanks, Patrick, but I think I'll leave the writing to the writers!

Al