I was noticing these holes on some ash I brought in. Is this eab or powder post beetle? I don't really know what either look like. It's only on my ash, not any of the maple I have. Do I have to worry about something getting into wood products around the house?
I've never seen Eab that bad. They also look round and not d shaped. My $ says that's not eab. That advice is worth what it cost you keep in mind
Yeah, just looked up damage pictures from both and it looks a lot like powder post beetles. Also said they can migrate into your house and cause damage. chit, now I'm worried a little. I usually only keep about 10-15 splits near the stove at a time but if I only burn on weekends the splits will sit there for 5 days.
That's not EAB. They stay between the bark and the wood they don't go into the wood as you have pictured. Looks like powder post critters to me.
So it's probably not a good idea to have ANY of this wood in the house. Well, there's been some of it in the house all winter. Is there anything preventative I I should do, spray or something? Now I'm a bit worried.
I have a lot of experience with powder post beetles in my oak wood. I have never had a problem once the wood is dry. In my area, they just aren't attracted to dry wood. With that said, even though the split may feel dry, if it has bark on one of the sides, I can almost be assured it's damp under the bark and the beetle larvae will be crawling around under it. There is a lot to be said for splitting the bark off the wood before doing the final splits. I usually split about an inch or two inside the bark. Splitting so thin allows the barked split to dry rather quickly. And in doing so, doesn't allow the powder post beetle to establish itself. I usually stack the barked mini splits by themselves and burn them within six months of splitting. Said in another way, I never mix the small barked splits with the main oak stack. For the rest of the round minus the barked outer layer, I split normal and never have a problem.
I did a little reading and your right, they don't really like dry wood. The holes are actually from the beetle emerging, not boring in, so it's possible they are all gone because the wood is seasoned a couple years. Thankfully I live in a old house with old dry wood, with lots of it in the immediate area being sealed. I'll move it outside and just keep an eye on it. At least it's not like my house will fall down tomorrow, just gonna have to keep an eye on it. I guess in my region they are typically active from April to June.
My gut feeling is that you won't have an issue bringing it in the house provided it's dry. But if you want to be safe, bring it inside the day you plan to burn it. I do hate those little buggers. It's a real pain to split the bark off ahead of time, but it does fix the problem.
We get them in our Bitternut Hickory, the holes are there after the wood been drying a couple of years. I 've never seen a bug in or on the dry wood though, so I'll agree with the exit hole theory.
FWIW, any powder post beetle infested wood we've stored in the unheated underground staging area (mulberry) made noise until it cooled below about 40* f. Could hear random click noise as they chomp the fiber. Whatever it is, a plan to throw it straight into the stove for cremation from frigid outdoors seems wise. Here's what EAB signature looks like. The little buzztards wander just between the ash bark and outermost wood layer.
They don't miss anything on my trees. Yours does not look like EAB. From what I've seen, they stay in the cambium area of the trunk, not the heart wood. We've had good results using Boron mixed with water and spraying in on wood. Mainly Old farm barns when they start getting into the structural posts and beams. Does take a while and you do it heavy so it will soak into the wood. They do NOT stop if left untreated.
Without any doubt in the least, that is powder post beetle damage. Usually not a worry in the stack but it is one more reason we don't like wood stored inside the house. Many say they won't attack dry wood. OH????!!!!! To them I would like to ask then why many times they will attack wood handles in old shovels, forks, rakes, etc.? The last time we had a problem like this is when we tried to use the old post hole digger. Ha! The PPB had gotten into the handles and the first time we tried to use them, both handles simply broke off! PPB damage plain and simple. Of course this could probably have been avoided had they been properly taken care of by simply applying linseed oil on the wood handles every couple of years...
We also do not store wood in the house for the same reasons, plus mosquitos. Getting bitten watching TV in February is just wrong.
