I was splitting some pine that I got I knew it had termites when I picked it up but I didnt realize how badly it was infested until I split it open yesterday. Ive gotten some termite wood before but they were just on the surface between the wood and the bark but this stuff was in the middle loads of them disgusting critters and after several of the rounds were opend and I found more termites and or excessive damage I got so disgusted with it I loaded it all up in the trailer and took it straight to the dump This also brings up another frat I have that the rest of my wood is infested or about to be. Should I just give up on getting any wood where I see a sign of termites or just keep taking my chances with the stuff this is the second time Ive ended up cleaning up some guys yard for free. Heres some of the termites and heres all of what I had to throw away
I won't touch termite infested wood personally. Normally I'll burn it in an outdoor area to get rid of em. A C
Thats a shame, all that work getting them. You did the right thing though. I don't know how far from the house you process, but the house would be on their menu next if they lost their current nest. Just give the stuff to someone you don't like, lol
Not sure about where u live but there termites everywhere so no need to worry about bringing them to your place as there already there. Leave a piece of wood on ground for a month or two and it will end up with them around here.
Termites attack wood that is in contact with the ground. Keep it off the ground & dry ,they go away. Like you, I'd get ride of it anyway . Don't lose sleep worrying about them infesting the rest of your wood Like "clems on far" said, they are around almost everywhere They're here, we're here before us, will be here after us
I've read this a lot on the forums. I'm not sure I agree. A friend had a rent house with a crawl space (wood floor). He went underneath and found mud/dirt tubes from the ground up to the floor, ~2-4 feet tall. Exterminator said common termite infestation. Termites eat houses with 150 year old dry wood.
They use Tue mud tubes to keep it mist n humid. Their very sensitive to UV light and their bodies will dry out easy so they have to control that. They do. Eat dry wood but. Usually start in a damp place and work to it.
When in doubt, throw the wood out. It isn't worth the hassle dealing with it. If it is ants I will stack the wood away from everything else then split it and stack it away from the rest of the wood during the freezing months. Termites, kill all I can and walk away.
They have to return to the ground unless there is a moisture source. If you split and stack it on some treated cribbing treat the soil around it with some Bayer they will leave the wood. They are everywhere here - I never have them in my seasoned wood
Yeo I split it and stack it above ground and they die or leave. They can't dry out. My wood area is 70 ft from my home though. And I have a termite treatment system I don't worry. They don't get in ur stacks if off ground.
My stacks are plenty far from the house but they are near two of my barns. The wood with the termites had termites when I got it but I thought they were just on the surface turns out they were deeply embeded in the wood there was no salvaging this stuff it was bad off. Im going to have to be more careful next time I find termites Im going to split some of it before I take it. Ive taken wood with termites before but they were just on the surface so no worries.
Bugs/insects are one of the reasons I like to cut & split at the same time. The ants I can generally get rid of by throwing the splits on the ground & then pick them up 10-15 minutes later. If the wood has bugs I will make more splits to give them lots of escape routes.
